Kantian Ethics

Value, Agency, and Obligation

Robert Stern

Ground breaking papers on themes in Kantian ethics
Sheds new light on current issues in ethics and history of ethics
Covers a broad area, including not only Kant but key areas of his influence
Written in a clear and accessible manner

Kantian Ethics

Value, Agency, and Obligation

Robert Stern

Description

This volume presents a selection of Robert Stern's work on the theme of Kantian ethics. It begins by focusing on the relation between Kant's account of obligation and his view of autonomy, arguing that this leaves room for Kant to be a realist about value. Stern then considers where this places Kant in relation to the question of moral scepticism, and in relation to the principle of 'ought implies can', and examines this principle in its own right. The papers then move beyond Kant himself to his wider influence and to critics of his work, including Hegel, the British Idealists, and the Danish philosopher and theologian K. E. Logstrup, while also offering a comparison with William James's arguments for freedom. The collection concludes with a consideration of a broadly Kantian critique of divine command ethics offered by Stephen Darwall, arguing that the critique does not succeed. General themes considered in this volume therefore include value, perfectionism, agency, autonomy, moral motivation, moral scepticism, and obligation, as well as the historical place of Kant's ethics and its influence on thinkers up to the present day.

Kantian Ethics

Value, Agency, and Obligation

Robert Stern

I. Themes from Kant's Ethics
1. Kant, Moral Obligation, and the Holy Will
2. Constructivism and the Argument from Autonomy
3. The Value of Humanity: Reflections on Korsgaard's Transcendental Argument
4. Moral Scepticism and Agency: Kant and Korsgaard
5. Moral Scepticism, Constructivism, and the Value of Humanity
6. Does 'Ought' Imply 'Can'? And Did Kant Think It Does?
7. Why Does Ought Imply Can?
II. Ethics after Kant
8. On Hegel's Critique of Kant's Ethics: Beyond the Empty Formalism Objection
9. Does Hegelian Ethics Rest on a Mistake?
10. 'My Station and its Duties': Social Role Accounts of Obligation in Green and Bradley
11. The Ethics of the British Idealists: Perfectionism after Kant
12. Round Kant or Through Him? On James's Arguments for Freedom, and their Relation to Kant's
13. 'Duty and Virtue are Moral Introversions': On Logstrup's Critique of Morality
14. Divine Commands and Secular Demands: On Darwall on Anscombe on 'Modern Moral Philosophy'
Bibliography
Index

Kantian Ethics

Value, Agency, and Obligation

Robert Stern

Author Information

Robert Stern, University of Sheffield

Robert Stern has been at the University of Sheffield since 1989, having been a graduate and Research Fellow at St John's College, Cambridge. He is the author of Hegel, Kant and the Structure of the Object (Routledge 1990), Transcendental Arguments and Scepticism (OUP, 2000), Hegel's 'Phenomenology of Spirit' (Routledge 2002), and Understanding Moral Obligation: Kant, Hegel, Kierkegaard (CUP, 2012), while a first collection of his papers was published by Oxford University Press in 2009 under the title Hegelian Metaphysics.

Kantian Ethics

Value, Agency, and Obligation

Robert Stern

Reviews and Awards

"This collection of essay from Bob Stern manifests all the virtues of his writing that those familiar with his work will recognize ... The range of Stern's interests, and the proficiency with which he moves from figure to figure, is remarkable ... Those working on Kantian or Hegelian ethical theory, or those working on obligation more broadly, cannot afford to neglect it." -- John Callanan, Journal of Moral Philosophy

"In addition to his significant contributions to the literature, Stern's work can be similarly commended for its accessibility. Stern writes in a clear and lucid style, and thus his work is to be recommended not just to scholars deeply entrenched in the literature, but also to graduate students or advanced undergraduates seeking a starting point to studying Kant beyond the primary texts." -- Maks Sipowicz, Colloquy: Text, Theory, Critique

"excellent...should appeal to a wide variety of readers...clarifying and enriching Stern's view of Kant, but also extending it to address an impressive range of philosophers and issues." -- Kantian Review

"In addition to the quality of the arguments, I also recommend the book for Stern's writing-style. Each of the 14 essays is very clearly written. They each contain close textual analyses that advance the scholarship on the particular author, and Stern's reflections on the systematic plausibility of each argument enhances the systematic debates on topics such as obligation, value or moral agency. Stern has previously published on many different aspects of philosophy, and one characteristic of his writing that I find particularly refreshing is how he uses distinctions from other areas in philosophy to sharpen our understanding of Kant's philosophy. Stern's book is an important advancement of central debates in Kant scholarship. I highly recommend it to Kant scholars and anyone interested in moral philosophy of a Kantian bent." -- Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews