Kant's Departure from Hume's Moral Naturalism

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dc.contributor.authorSaunders, Josiah Paulen
dc.date.accessioned2008-09-07T21:13:13Z
dc.date.available2008-09-07T21:13:13Z
dc.date.issued2007en
dc.description.abstractThis thesis considers Kant's departure from moral naturalism. In doing so, it explores the relationship between ethics, naturalism, normativity and freedom. Throughout this exploration, I build the case that Kant's ethics of autonomy allows us to make better sense of ethics than Hume's moral naturalism. Hume believes that morality is ultimately grounded in human nature. Kant finds this understanding of ethics limiting. He insists that we are free - we can critically reflect upon our nature and (to an extent) alter it accordingly. This freedom, I contend, renders the moral naturalist's appeal to nature lacking. Of course, a Kantian conception of freedom - some form of independence from the causal order - is fairly unpopular in contemporary circles. In particular, a commitment to naturalism casts doubt on such a notion of freedom. I argue with Kant that such a conception of freedom is essential to the conception of ourselves as rational agents. The critical turn, unlike naturalism, warrants this conception of freedom, accommodating the point of view of our rational agency. It thus allows Kant's ethics of autonomy to better grasp certain key elements of morality - normativity and our agency - than Hume's moral naturalism.en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10092/992
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.26021/4781
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherUniversity of Canterbury. Philosophy and Religious Studiesen
dc.relation.isreferencedbyNZCUen
dc.rightsCopyright Josiah Paul Saundersen
dc.rights.urihttps://canterbury.libguides.com/rights/thesesen
dc.subjectPhilosophyen
dc.subjectKant (Immanuel)en
dc.subjectHume (David)en
dc.subjectnaturalismen
dc.subjectscienceen
dc.subjectethicsen
dc.subjectmoralsen
dc.subjectmoralityen
dc.subjectnormativityen
dc.subjectagencyen
dc.subjectfreedomen
dc.subjectdesireen
dc.subjectreasonen
dc.subjectrationalityen
dc.subjectautonomyen
dc.subjectheteronomyen
dc.subjectsympathyen
dc.subjectjusticeen
dc.subjectendsen
dc.subjectmeansen
dc.subjectidealen
dc.subjecthappinessen
dc.subjectdutyen
dc.subjectrighten
dc.subjectwrongen
dc.subjectinclinationen
dc.subjectmotiveen
dc.subjectmetaphysics of moralsen
dc.subjectmoral epistemologyen
dc.subjectkingdom of endsen
dc.subjectBlackburn (Simon)en
dc.subjectKorsgaard (Christine)en
dc.subjectAllison (Henry)en
dc.subjectDarwall (Stephen)en
dc.subjectFörster (Eckart)en
dc.subjectKuehn (Manfred)en
dc.titleKant's Departure from Hume's Moral Naturalismen
dc.typeTheses / Dissertations
thesis.degree.disciplinePhilosophyen
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Canterburyen
thesis.degree.levelMastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Artsen
uc.bibnumber1073758en
uc.collegeFaculty of Artsen
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