Dilemma workshop
Tricky cases based on Kant's own examples: decide for yourself first, then Kant speaks.
Good will
The only thing that can be “regarded as good without limitation” — the famous opening claim of the first section of Kant's “Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals”.
Talents such as wit and courage, gifts such as power and wealth, even happiness can do harm if the will that uses them is not good. Only the good will remains valuable in every circumstance — it is grounded in pure practical reason, not in inclinations or consequences.
And the will is good not through what it achieves but through the willing itself: through the maxim of acting from duty. With this thought Kant opens the first section of the “Groundwork” and lays the foundation for the categorical imperative.
Try it yourself
Where it appears
- Ethics
- Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals — Structure & key ideas
- Teaching — 3 · Duty ethics versus utilitarianism
Source: Wikipedia: Good will