Kant on Evil, Self-Deception, and Moral Reform

281 Pages·2018·3.893 MB·English

by  Laura Papish

Kant on Evil, Self- Deception,
and Moral Reform
ii
Kant on Evil,
Self- Deception,
and Moral Reform
Laura Papish
1
iv
1
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© Oxford University Press 2018
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Papish, Laura, author.
Title: Kant on evil, self-deception, and moral reform / Laura Papish.
Description: New York : Oxford University Press, 2018. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017045790 (print) | LCCN 2018006491 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780190692131 (online course) | ISBN 9780190692117 (updf) |
ISBN 9780190692124 (epub) | ISBN 9780190692100 (cloth : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Kant, Immanuel, 1724–1804. | Good and evil. | Self-deception.
Classification: LCC B2798 (ebook) | LCC B2798 .P165 2018 (print) | DDC 170.92—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017045790
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America
To the memory of my father, Richard P. Papish
vi
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations and Translations xiii
Introduction 1
1. The Self of Self- Love 11
2. Evil and the Subordination of the Moral Law 37
3. Kantian Self- Deception 67
4. Self- Deception, the Necessary Conditions of Evil, and the
Entrenchment of Evil 87
5. Self- Deception, Dissimulation, and the Universality of Evil
in Human Nature 117
6. Kantian Self- Cognition 153
7. Kant’s Two- Stage Model of Moral Reform 177
8. Moral Misunderstandings and the Ethical Community 203
Conclusion 233
Bibliography 237
Index 247
viii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
There are many people who have helped make this book a reality. To start,
I want to thank Lucy Randall, Hannah Doyle, and the rest of the staff at
Oxford University Press who helped at various stages of production. I want
to give special thanks to Lucy, since without her enthusiasm at the very
beginning of my work on this manuscript, the project would never have
gotten off the ground. I owe a similar debt of gratitude to my colleagues
in the Department of Philosophy at George Washington University (GW).
I wish to thank Gail Weiss, who was chair upon my hire and who continued
to advocate and look out for me during my career. I also wish to thank Tad
Zawidzki, my current chair, as he has enabled me— through research and
travel support, a flexible teaching schedule, and overall good vibes— to both
complete this manuscript and secure a much-n eeded set of course releases
to help me recover from completing it. In addition, I owe an enormous debt
to David DeGrazia, who has served as my mentor throughout my time at
GW. David has offered invaluable advice both on publishing in general and
on how to develop this particular book project, and at crucial junctures he
has helped me navigate the publishing process and my reviewer feedback.
I feel incredibly lucky to have him as a mentor, since without his encour-
agement and guidance I would have never had the confidence to try to
write a book. I also want to thank GW and the John Templeton Foundation
for financial support. In 2015, GW granted me a University Facilitating
Fund award, which proved especially helpful to my research that summer.
Through the Templeton Foundation, I was able to participate in Christian
Miller’s 2013 Character Project Summer Seminar, and without this oppor-
tunity I would not have been able to do the research that informed much
of Chapter 2.
There are many more people who played distant and near roles in the
development of this book. I want to note my gratitude to John Russon,
my undergraduate professor, whose excellence as a teacher and passion