Kant and the role of pleasure in moral action

by Iain P. D. Morrisson

"Kant and the Role of Pleasure in Moral Action is part of a new wave of interest in Kant's anthropological (that is, psychological) works. Whereas previous commentators have attempted to understand Kant's feeling of respect by studying the relevant textual evidence in isolation, Morrisson illuminates this evidence by determining what Kant's more general theory of action commits him to regarding moral action. After looking at how Kant's treatment of desire and feeling can be reconciled with his famous account of free maxim-based action, Morrisson argues that respect moves us to moral action in a way that is structurally parallel to the way in which nonmoral pleasure motivates nonmoral action."--Jacket.