Friday, September 26, 2014
The 1st proposition of duty vs. The Will
The majority of the week in class, we focused on two of Kant's subjects duty and will. Duty was analyzed into 3 propositions and will was considered a good act. Dr. Johnson used feeding the homeless as an example of will and the results and/or consequences that follows the act of will. So, say your will was to take up donations for your neighbor to have a certain surgery done in order for that person not to die. So you come up with more than enough money for the person to their surgery done. Whether or not this person lives or dies, would this will still be considered good in itself? Moving along to the subject of duty, according to the 1st proposition of duty, do you have to have a certain occupation like a firefighter to be classified as the 1st proposition of duty? If not then give an example of who and why this person can be classified as the 1st proposition of duty? How can you compare the 1st proposition of duty to the will? If not how can you differentiate the two acts?
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Yes, I think by Kant's rationale, whether person lives or dies the good will is still a good will. It wasn't their intention nor was it in their control for whether the person lives or dies. I also do not think that one needs a certain occupation to be classified as the 1st proposition of duty. I think a better example, like Dr. Johnson pointed out, would be any one who volunteers their time to help others. However, even in this case a person who volunteers could be acting on self-interest and therefore would not fall under the 1st proposition of duty.
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