Kant’s Tugendlehre as Normative Ethics

Abstract

In The Metaphysics of Morals, especially the Tugendlehre or Doctrine of Virtue, Kant clarifies, develops, and extends ideas that he presented in the Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals and the Critique of Practical Reason. This chapter reviews some features of normative ethics that distinguish Tugendlehre from science, metaphysics, metaethics, and theories of law. It discusses the role of the basic moral principles in Kant's theory and how they relate to more specific principles. The chapter considers Kant's idea of duties to oneself and their relevance to certain contemporary discussions. Then, it discusses second-order duties to oneself that anticipate our liability to errors in moral judgment, ulterior motives, and weakness of will. Finally, the chapter notes some ways in which the Tugendlehre is incomplete. It is incomplete partly because Kant's aim was only to present the first principles of "the doctrine of virtue".