Kant: extract 1

Immanuel Kant, from

Groundwork for the Metaphysic of Morals
In the version by Jonathan Bennett presented at www.earlymoderntexts.com

[Brackets] enclose editorial explanations. Small ·dots· enclose material that has been added, but can be read as though it were part of the original text. Occasional •bullets, and also indenting of passages that are not quotations, are meant as aids to grasping the structure of a sentence or a thought. Four ellipses.... indicate the omission of a brief passage that seems to present more difficulty than it is worth.

Nothing in the world — or out of it! — can possibly be conceived that could be called 'good' without qualification except a GOOD WILL. Mental talents such as intelligence, wit, and judgment, and temperaments such as courage, resoluteness, and perseverance are doubtless in many ways good and desirable; but they can become extremely bad and harmful if the person‘s character isn‘t good — ie if the will that is to make use of these gifts of nature isn‘t good. Similarly with gifts of fortune. Power, riches, honour, even health, and the over-all well-being and contentment with one‘s condition that we call 'happiness‘, create pride, often leading to arrogance, if there isn‘t a good will to correct their influence on the mind .... Not to mention the fact that the sight of someone who shows no sign of a pure and good will and yet enjoys uninterrupted prosperity will never give pleasure to an impartial rational observer. So it seems that without a good will one can‘t even be worthy of being happy.

Even qualities that are conducive to this good will and can make its work easier have no intrinsic unconditional worth. We rightly hold them in high esteem, but only because we assume them to be accompanied by a good will; so we can‘t take them to be absolutely ·or unconditionally· good. Moderation in emotions and passions, self-control, and calm deliberation not only are good in many ways but seem even to constitute part of the person‘s inner worth, and they were indeed unconditionally valued by the ancients. Yet they are very far from being good without qualification — ·good in themselves, good in any circumstances· — for without the principles of a good will they can become extremely bad: ·for example·, a villain‘s coolness makes him far more dangerous and more straightforwardly abominable to us than he would otherwise have seemed.

What makes a good will good? It isn‘t what it brings about, its usefulness in achieving some intended end. Rather, good will is good because of how it wills — that is, it is good in itself. Taken just in itself it is to be valued incomparably more highly than anything that could be brought about by it in the satisfaction of some preference — or, if you like, the sum total of all preferences! Consider this case:

Through bad luck or a miserly endowment from stepmotherly nature, this person‘s will has no power at all to accomplish its purpose; not even the greatest effort on his part would enable it to achieve anything it aims at. But he does still have a good will — not as a mere wish but as the summoning of all the means in his power.

The good will of this person would sparkle like a jewel all by itself, as something that had its full worth in itself. Its value wouldn‘t go up or down depending on how useful or fruitless it was. If it was useful, that would only be the setting ·of the jewel·, so to speak, enabling us to handle it more conveniently in commerce (·a diamond ring is easier to manage than a diamond·) or to get those who don‘t know much ·about jewels· to look at it. But the setting doesn‘t affect the value ·of the jewel· and doesn‘t recommend it the experts.