The relation of freedom and evil in Kant’s moral philosophy

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2006

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Aydın Bayram, Selma

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The purpose of this study is to examine concepts of freedom and evil, and to clarify their relation in terms of Kant’s moral philosophy. In this study, I firstly examine Kant’s understanding of freedom and the problems that this understanding leads to. I also discuss how the concept of freedom can be reconciled with the concept of evil expressed in the form of “propensity to evil”. Additionally, I attempt to show the significance of the notion of evil for Kant’s moral theory. Evil is one of the most criticized concepts of Kant’s philosophy and it is considered as inconsistent with his earlier thoughts by his contemporaries. Kant claims that the “propensity to evil” is universal to all of human race, but it does not mean that human beings are actually evil. They become good or evil with their free will (Willkür). In this study, I propose that Kant’s understanding of evil is a concept that helps to conceive one’s own freedom in terms of Kant’s morality. I also try to show that in spite of its similarities with the Christian doctrine of “original sin”, Kant’s conception of evil should not be considered as a religious issue; it is a matter of freedom as the extension of his moral theory and his earlier thoughts. Kant’s earlier works do not seem to be sufficient for comprehending his moral thoughts. Therefore, it can be proposed that with the introduction of the concept of evil in the Religion within the Limits of Reason, the missing part of Kant’s moral theory is completed.

Subject Keywords

Philosophy (General).

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http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/3/12607596/index.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/16081

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Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis

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Citation Formats

S. Aydın Bayram, “The relation of freedom and evil in Kant’s moral philosophy,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2006.