Common Sense of Duty
Kant states that there is nothing "which can be regarded as good without qualification, except a good will." A good will is the moral compass that always seeks good: if an agent fails, it is not the fault of the good will but of the agent's ability to carry it out.
In the opening section, Kant explains what is commonly meant by moral obligations and duty. It is fairly common sense, he writes, not to consider moral an act done out of inclination for the self. A shopkeeper with honest prices does so foremost to be respected by his customers, not for the sake of honesty. He "deserves praise and encouragement, but not esteem." It is common knowledge that the people for whose good actions there is no reward are those who act most morally. Kant revises this in his declaration that they are the only people acting morally. We esteem a man who gives up his life because he gains nothing in doing so. "Duty is the necessity to act out of reverence for the law." Thus, to follow the moral law, the intrinsic sense of right and wrong, is our greatest obligation.
Read more about this topic: Groundwork Of The Metaphysic Of Morals
Famous quotes containing the words common sense, common, sense and/or duty:
“The moment the very name of Ireland is mentioned, the English seem to bid adieu to common feeling, common prudence, and common sense, and to act with the barbarity of tyrants, and the fatuity of idiots.”
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845)
“I will not choose what many men desire,
Because I will not jump with common spirits,
And rank me with the barbarous multitudes.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Parents vary in their sense of what would be suitable repayment for creating, sustaining, and tolerating you all those years, and what circumstances would be drastic enough for presenting the voucher. Obviously there is no repayment that would be sufficient . . . but the effort to call in the debt of life is too outrageous to be treated as anything other than a joke.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)
“The whole duty of man consists in being reasonable and just.... I am reasonable because I know the difference between understanding and not understanding and I am just because I have no opinion about things I I don’t understand.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)