Immanuel Kant's "Critique of Practical Reason" argues that pure reason, independent of all empirical considerations, can be practical and determine the will. It establishes the possibility of a moral law that originates solely from reason, demonstrating how this moral law necessitates freedom and immortality as its conditions. The book's practical purpose is to illuminate the foundation of Kant's ethics and its place within his critical philosophy.
A reader engages with this text to understand Kant's conception of a moral law derived from reason itself, not from desires or consequences. The work outlines Kant's argument for how moral obligation is possible and the necessary postulates of freedom and immortality that arise from this moral law, providing an accessible rendition by Werner Pluhar.
Key concepts
- Moral law — A law that can determine the will purely from reason, independent of empirical influences.
- Practical reason — Reason that can determine the will and act as a direct cause of actions.
- Freedom — A necessary condition for the possibility of the moral law.
- Immortality — A necessary condition, alongside freedom, for the possibility of the moral law.