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    If moral worthiness requires happiness as its completion,... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→We ought to postulate God.

    If moral worthiness requires happiness as its completion, then moral agents are ultimately acting for the sake of their own felicity, undermining the categorical nature of the moral law.

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    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.Kant distinguished hypothetical imperatives (contingent on desires) from categorical imperatives (unconditional duties). Happiness-completion collapses this distinction.
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    • 2.If moral agents necessarily pursue happiness as morality's ultimate end, their moral actions are instrumentally motivated, not intrinsically obligatory.
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    • 3.The categorical imperative's authority lies in reason alone. Tying it to happiness outcomes makes morality depend on contingent empirical conditions.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Happiness as moral completion need not be the agent's primary motivation; it can be morality's proper consequence without undermining moral duty's categorical status.
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    • 2.Acting for duty AND expecting happiness-completion are compatible: one can acknowledge an outcome's desirability while acting from principled obligation, not desire.
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    • 3.Many virtuous acts yield no happiness; happiness-completion may describe an ideal proportionality rather than agents' actual motivational structure or moral worth.
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    Key Terms

    Categorical moral law(ethics)
    A rule about right and wrong that applies no matter what—it's not based on what makes you happy, but on duty itself.
    Completion(ethics)
    The fulfillment or finishing of something; here, what's needed to make morality whole or fully realized.
    Happiness (or felicity)(ethics)
    A state of lasting contentment and well-being; in philosophy, often means achieving your personal goals and flourishing.
    Moral agents(as used in ethics)
    People or entities capable of understanding right and wrong, making choices based on moral principles, and being held responsible for their actions.
    Moral worthiness(ethics)
    The quality of being deserving of praise or respect because you've acted in the right way.
    categorical(axiomatic theories in logic)
    A set of sentences is categorical if and only if all of its models are isomorphic, meaning there is only one model up to isomorphism.
    felicity(Al-Farabi's political philosophy)
    The state of happiness or flourishing that constitutes the end goal of human life, attainable in principle by all members of society.

    Connections

    1 topic

    Afterlife & Death1 linked

    Related

    Acting for duty AND expecting happiness-completion are compatible: one can ackno...Happiness as moral completion need not be the agent's primary motivation; it can...If moral agents necessarily pursue happiness as morality's ultimate end, their m...Kant distinguished hypothetical imperatives (contingent on desires) from categor...

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit
    +3 moreShow less
    Many virtuous acts yield no happiness; happiness-completion may describe an idea...The categorical imperative's authority lies in reason alone. Tying it to happine...We ought to postulate God.