The Doctrine of Virtue as a Doctrine of Ends

Abstract

Abstract This chapter concerns the first three sections of Kant’s dedicated introduction to Part II of the Metaphysics of Morals—The Doctrine of Virtue. Section 1 of the chapter explains why, according to Kant, there must be a doctrine of virtue as a part of a more comprehensive doctrine of morals. Section 2 explains why ethics is both a doctrine of virtue and a doctrine of ends. Section 3 discusses the concept of an end that is also a duty and why such ends are fundamental in a doctrine of virtue. Section 4 considers Kant’s argument that there must be ends that are also duties, otherwise (so he argues) there can be no doctrine of morals. The chapter’s conclusion is summary.