Nickhil Singh
Title: Why I hate Kant
Well not really...As I tell all my friends, please do not read Kant... He will give you a headache.
Seriously, it is a treat to read Kant's Metaphysics of Morals because Kant raises an important and striking philosophical question that we should all ask ourselves: Is it more important to be happy or be morally good? Of course, this question leads to another follow-up question: Is it possible to do both?
Without delaying the answer to this question, I will tell you Kant's answer. No, you cannot be truly happy and morally good at the same time. There are several reasons Kant outlines for this stance, and it is instructive to look at and evlauate his answers.
Reason # 1 for an our inability to be happy and morally pure at the same time:
We can never know if our actions are motivated from a pure will . If you have ever read Kant's book, then you know how important a good will is to his whole idea of a cateogorical imperative. Unfortunately for Kant, and us for that matter, we, nor anyone else, can ever know if an action comes from a good will because man's motives are unpure. Unlike say a god, (Kant does not get into this in the Groundwork. You have to read other works to understand his position on god, a supreme hierarchy of values, etc.) man must always fight between his irrational and rational self. Without every fully coming to peace with this battle on earth, we can never objectively look at ourselves and determine our honest interests.
Reason # 2 for our inability to be happy and morally pure at the same time:
Happiness is unattainable because we can never know what happiness is or how to get it.
Kant's argument is not a novel one; indeed, philosophers prior to him, like Hobbes, made a similar philosophical argument. The concept is simple: Man's desires change from one thing to another. It is entirely impossible to continually get all these desires at one time. Thus, man is somewhat like an animal (Hobbes, not Kant, would probably say we are all like animals) continually lusting for one desire after another. I think we can safely say that Kant belives moral worth is the path to happiness, although the text seems to be ambiguous as to what exactly can happen at the end of this path.
Reason # 3 for our inability to be happy and morally pure at the same time:
Morality consists of looking at a situation objectively and identifying the what is right for everyone and not what is advantageous to oneself. Most actions in life consist of the former not the latter
Essentially, Kant also makes the tacit argument throughout the text that every man plays a fundamental role in society. It is impossible to live a life where one does not interact with others. This means that ones actions have to take into account the well being of others. Simply put, almost every action can be approached from the perspective of helping another. In a way, every personally beneficial action is opposite to what helps another person. The categorical imperative includes this ideal in its formulation and that is what makes it so different from the proverbial cliche "Do onto others as you would wish them to do onto you."
To fully appreciate Kant's point on happiness and morality, I suggest you read The Groundwork yourself. Despite Kant's runon sentences and redefinitions, you will love the book. For all those sceptics out there, I suggest that presuppose some higher entity in order to read Kant's works... It will make your life much easier and you won't feel like such a nerd for arguing about tangental points.
Want to reach me? E-mail me at nickhil@nickhil.com
