ЩО МИ МОЖЕМО ВІДПО-ВІСТИ ХЕАРУ В СВІТЛІ КАНТІВСЬКОЇ ЕТИКИ?

Seyed Mohammad Hossein Mir-Mohammadi

doi:10.22240/sent27.02.060

Authors

Seyed Mohammad Hossein Mir-Mohammadi Taras Shevchenko National University of Kiev

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22240/sent27.02.060

Keywords:

Hare, Kant, Ethics, Weakness of Will.

Abstract

Some Kantian philosophers, like R. M. Hare, hold that weakness of will is impossible. The reason is that when an agent agrees to do an action, according to his evaluative judgment it will be understood as «He shall do that action». If so, all agents do only actions which they are genuinely and in the fullest sense hold they ought to do. Therefore, weakness of will, which is known as an agent's action contrary to his better judgment, is impossible. However, this pers-pective is vague because it misses the difference within the will which weakness refers to. In the light of Kantian ethics, at least two different types of will can be known, namely empirical and pure will. We should consider the possibility of weakness of will in each type separately. We argue that weakness of will is impossible if it is the pure will; if not, weakness of will is possible.

Author Biography

Seyed Mohammad Hossein Mir-Mohammadi, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kiev

applicant for Ph.D. in philosophy at the Depart-ment of philosophy

References

Gurtler, H. M. (1971). What Kant Might Say to Hare. Mind, New Series, 80(318), 295-297. https://doi.org/10.1093/mind/LXXX.318.295

Hare, R. M. (1963). Freedom and Reason. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Hill, J. R., & Thomas, E. (2008). Kant on Weakness of Will. In T. Hoffmann (Ed.), Weakness of Will from Plato to the Present (pp. 210-230). Washington: The Catholic University of America Press.

Holton, R. (1999). Intention and Weakness of Will. Journal of Philosophy, 96(5), 241-262. https://doi.org/10.2307/2564667

Holton, R. (2009). Willing, Wanting, Waiting. Oxford: Oxford UP. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199214570.001.0001

Kant, I. (1889). The Critique of Practical Reason. In Kant's Critique of Practical Reason and other works on the theory of ethics. London: Longmans, Green & Co.

Searle, J. R. (2001). Rationality in action. Cambridge MA: MIT Press.

Spitzley, Th. (2008). Autonomy and Weakness of Will. In Ch. Lumer, & S. Nannini (Eds.), Intentionality, Deliberation and Autonomy: the Action-Theoretic Basis of Practical Philosophy. Farnham: Ashgate Pub.

Stroud, S. (2008, May 14). Weakness of Will. Retrieved from The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy website: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/weakness-will/

Watson, G. (2007). The work of the will. In S. Stroud, & Ch. Tappolet (Eds.), Weakness of will and Practical Irrationality. Oxford: Oxford UP.