Moral Self-Knowledge in Kantian Ethics Essay

In the bind titled, Moral Self- do itledge in Kantian Ethics, Emer OHagan discusses Kants views and ideas concerning self- populateledge and the role it plays in province and virtuous action. OHagan first introduces a key feature of Kants respectable theory which is its recognition of the psychological complexity of human beings. OHagan uses this recognition of psychological complexity by Kant to dive into Kants feeling on self-k instantaneouslyledge.Once a basic understanding of Kants attitude towards self-knowledge has been established, OHagan then uses Kants ethical theory to show how self-knowledge can be used as a actor to help tick off the goodness of an action. The arguments presented by OHagan are logical and clearly supported and verified through the presented evidence. Kant is shown to give recognized the psychological complexity of the human being in recognizing that, judgments concerning the rightness of actions are vulnerable to subversive activity from self-inte rested inclination (OHagan 525-537).Kant is saying that that even though an action may start out as from duty, our sexual feelings as human beings can create a beneficial end as a means for the action, thus rendering it not from duty. Kant also recognizes that our own judgments about us may not be accurate. Moral self-development is a practice to develop accuracy for our self-judgments and takes into consideration ones motives for action. OHagan tells us that this moral practice requires moral self-knowledge which is a form of self-awareness disciplined by respect for autonomy, the theoretical butt of Kantian ethics.According to Kant, the first command of the duties to oneself as a moral being is self-knowledge. This is the ability to know yourself in terms of whether your heart is for good or evil and whether your actions are pure or impure. Kant describes duties of impartiality to be wide duties, in that there is not a clear standard for how one should go about performing actio n for an end that is also a duty. OHagan tells us that Kants duty of moral self-knowledge is the duty to know ones own heart.Kant tells us that moral self-knowledge is quite concentrated because it involves abstracting, or taking a non-biased analysis of ones self. Because we are bound to our own feelings and inclinations, we cannot wholly separate ourselves from our own bias. The power of self-knowledge is the power to see things in objectivity instead of subjectivity. The final meter of the argument is relating self-knowledge to determining the goodness of an action. OHagan tells us that developing self-knowledge will develop ones self-understanding and will develop guards against self-deception.Using these skills to truly understand ones heart allows for one to know ones motives, and thus practical stance in action. According to Kant, the goodness of an action is goaded by ones motives, so the goodness of ones action can now be evaluated. OHagan clearly demonstrates the impor tance of self-knowledge in Kants theory of ethics and validates its importance by describing application for use of the practice of self-knowledge (OHagan 525-537).