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題名 Why the Moral Law Must be Formal: Kiesewetter's Case for Kant
作者 謝昭銳
Tse, Plato
貢獻者 哲學系
關鍵詞 Kiesewetter; Kantian ethics; categorical imperative; formalism; Christian love
日期 2025-10
上傳時間 4-Sep-2026 16:37:23 (UTC+8)
摘要 This paper examines Johann Gottfried Carl Christian Kiesewetter’s Über den ersten Grundsatz der Moralphilosophie (1790/91) as a systematic defence and development of Kant’s formal principle of morality. I argue that Kiesewetter articulates a distinctive interpretation of the categorical imperative by identifying three essential marks of any genuine moral principle—universality, necessity, and primacy—and by showing that only Kant’s formal law satisfies all three. The paper first reconstructs Kiesewetter’s account of these criteria and his arguments for the apriority and formality of the moral law. It then analyzes his negative project: a comprehensive critique of rival ‘material’ principles, including those grounded in happiness, moral feeling, education and custom, perfection, and divine command. I show how Kiesewetter exposes the heteronomy and contingency implicit in each alternative. The third part discusses his replies to major objections against Kantian ethics, ranging from experiential and epistemic worries to concerns about motivation and competing goals. Finally, the paper considers Kiesewetter’s attempt to reconcile Kantian duty with Christian love in response to J. L. Ewald, arguing that practical love can be understood as reason-governed beneficence without reducing it to mere sentiment. Kiesewetter’s treatise thus offers an early and philosophically rich model for integrating formal Kantian ethics with broader existential and religious concerns.
關聯 NTU Philosophical Review, No.70, pp.313-364
資料類型 article
DOI https://doi.org/10.6276/NTUPR.202510_(70).0011
dc.contributor 哲學系
dc.creator (作者) 謝昭銳
dc.creator (作者) Tse, Plato
dc.date (日期) 2025-10
dc.date.accessioned 4-Sep-2026 16:37:23 (UTC+8)-
dc.date.available 4-Sep-2026 16:37:23 (UTC+8)-
dc.date.issued (上傳時間) 4-Sep-2026 16:37:23 (UTC+8)-
dc.identifier.uri (URI) https://ah.lib.nccu.edu.tw/item?item_id=184774-
dc.description.abstract (摘要) This paper examines Johann Gottfried Carl Christian Kiesewetter’s Über den ersten Grundsatz der Moralphilosophie (1790/91) as a systematic defence and development of Kant’s formal principle of morality. I argue that Kiesewetter articulates a distinctive interpretation of the categorical imperative by identifying three essential marks of any genuine moral principle—universality, necessity, and primacy—and by showing that only Kant’s formal law satisfies all three. The paper first reconstructs Kiesewetter’s account of these criteria and his arguments for the apriority and formality of the moral law. It then analyzes his negative project: a comprehensive critique of rival ‘material’ principles, including those grounded in happiness, moral feeling, education and custom, perfection, and divine command. I show how Kiesewetter exposes the heteronomy and contingency implicit in each alternative. The third part discusses his replies to major objections against Kantian ethics, ranging from experiential and epistemic worries to concerns about motivation and competing goals. Finally, the paper considers Kiesewetter’s attempt to reconcile Kantian duty with Christian love in response to J. L. Ewald, arguing that practical love can be understood as reason-governed beneficence without reducing it to mere sentiment. Kiesewetter’s treatise thus offers an early and philosophically rich model for integrating formal Kantian ethics with broader existential and religious concerns.
dc.format.extent 142 bytes-
dc.format.mimetype text/html-
dc.relation (關聯) NTU Philosophical Review, No.70, pp.313-364
dc.subject (關鍵詞) Kiesewetter; Kantian ethics; categorical imperative; formalism; Christian love
dc.title (題名) Why the Moral Law Must be Formal: Kiesewetter's Case for Kant
dc.type (資料類型) article
dc.identifier.doi (DOI) 10.6276/NTUPR.202510_(70).0011
dc.doi.uri (DOI) https://doi.org/10.6276/NTUPR.202510_(70).0011