Overview

Kant's arguments for the reality of human freedom and the normativity of the moral law continue to inspire work in contemporary moral philosophy. Many prominent ethicists invoke Kant, directly or indirectly, in their efforts to derive the authority of moral requirements from a more basic conception of action, agency, or rationality. But many commentators have detected a deep rift between the Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals and the Critique of Practical Reason, leaving Kant's project of justification exposed to conflicting assessments and interpretations. In this ground-breaking study of Kant, Owen Ware defends the controversial view that Kant's mature writings on ethics share a unified commitment to the moral law's primacy. Using both close analysis and historical contextualization, Owen Ware overturns a paradigmatic way of reading Kant's arguments for morality and freedom, situating them within Kant's critical methodology at large. The result is a novel understanding of Kant that challenges much of what goes under the banner of Kantian arguments for moral normativity today.

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9780198849933

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Reviews

Ware's work is excellent * Martin Sticker, Kantian Review *

"Ware's work is excellent * Martin Sticker, Kantian Review * Ware's Kant's Justification of Ethics ""contains valuable contributions to many debates about the foundations of Kant's ethical project. As such, it will be essential reading for anyone interested in the foundations of Kant's ethics."" * Karl Schafer, University of Texas, Philosophical Quarterly * Owen Ware's Kant's Justification of Ethics is an ""impressively researched, wide-ranging, and ground-clearing book."" * Jessica Tizzard, University T""ubingen, Studi Kantiani * Ware's work is excellent...It continues the tradition of adding value to Kant scholarship by discussing Kant's methods and aims. * Martin Sticker, University of Bristol, Kantian Review * Kant's Justification of Ethics can be seen as a substantial work on Kant's practical philosophy that at various points provides a fresh look at Kant's arguments for human freedom and moral normativity. * Steffi Schadow, Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf, Archiv f""ur Geschichte der Philosophie * Owen Ware's Kant's Justification of Ethics is certainly a worthwhile read for scholars of Kant and normative ethics as well as advanced students of Kant's practical philosophy. Well-written, conceptually strong, and clearly organized, Ware's book manages to accomplish a great deal in terms of novel Kantian scholarship while at the same time constituting a useful general guidebook to the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, the Critique of Practical Reason, and to the philosophical task of justifying moralit's bindingness on us. * Olga Lenczewska, University of North Carolina, British Journal for the History of Philosophy * Kant's Justification of Ethics and Fichte's Moral Philosophy are ""chockful of stimulating interpretive theses, supported by outstanding scholarship and argument. To all interested in their topics, I highly recommend these books, each individually, but especially together."" * William F. Bristow, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, European Journal of Philosophy *"

Author Information

Owen Ware is Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, Canada. He has published extensively on Kant and post-Kantian philosophy, with a focus on questions of freedom, morality, and normativity. He is the author of Fichte's Moral Philosophy (OUP 2020).

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