Annotation
Although the name of the course may seem like a contradiction, as Kant’s Ethics is usually defined as “formalist,” as we will see in this course, it is perfectly permissible to speak about material ethics even in relation to Kant. The fact that the principle of ethics, the categorical imperative, is formal does not imply that Kant’s Ethics does not have matter. In this course, we will hence focus on Kant’s late ethical work, the Doctrine of Virtue (the second part of the
Metaphysics of Morals), where he explains the matter of his ethics. We will study the relation of this work with his other two much more famous ethical writings, the Groundwork and the Critique of Practical Reason; discuss the division and the structure of his material ethics and also study some of the duties, like the duty of self-knowledge, the negative duty against lying, the duty of gratitude or duties to God.