Kant''s Ethics : The Good, Freedom, and the Will

Kant’s Ethics: The Good, Freedom, and the Will is a systematic examination of Kant’s ethics that recognizes the central importance of the good in relation to duty as forming a unified whole, in accordance with Kant’s intent. The Enlightenment, by undermining the religious foundations of morality, prompted Kant to offer a new foundation for ethics based not on religion but on reason. The first chapter provides the context of Kant’s ethics and explains the criteria by which to select views that are authoritative among Kant’s variety of statements. With these criteria for interpretation in hand, the book attempts a systematic account of Kant’s ethics as he developed it over a period of more than 40 years. Kant’s Ethics includes an analysis of the tripartite nature of the will in its dynamic unity and the relation of the will to the good. An appendix, “Kant at Auschwitz,” briefly considers a serious problem for Kant’s political philosophy that follows from his insistence on obeying civil authority.

“Kant’s Ethics: The Good, Freedom, and the Will is sui generis. Most scholars take the Grundlegung as the foundation of Kant’s ethics. But Silber locates the foundation in the second Critique. He clearly articulates Kant’s conception of the good and the moral will as the two principles of his ethics and organizes all Kant’s ethical writings on the basis of these two principles. This magnificent systematization is destined to stand for a long time as the most reliable guide for students of Kant’s ethics.”

Thomas K. Seung, Professor, University of Texas at Austin

“In this landmark study of Kant’s moral philosophy, Silber presents a uniquely coherent reconstruction of all important and sometimes seemingly disparate aspects of Kant’s ethical thought. … Rarely, if ever, have the complexity as well as the unity of Kant’s moral theory been presented in such a lucid manner. In sum, Silber’s book is a scholarly and intellectual achievement of the first order and a true apologia of Kant’s moral ethos.”

Klaus Brinkmann, Professor Emeritus, Boston University