On Status Of Practical Reason In Kant’s Moral Philosophy

Kant’s moral philosophy is the core of its ideological system, and the practicalreason he proposed is even the highest use of reason for a rational being, at the sametime he also believes that practical rationality is an important possibility ofgeneralization of morality. But today,200years after Kant proposed practical reason,the concept of what he believes as the highest use of rationality did not gain sufficientattention. First, our predecessors mostly focus on the use of pure reason in Kant’sepistemology and aesthetics, or make analysis on his rational concept level, orcompare logical deduction of pure reason and rational practice, which provide a goodfoundation for this study. Thus, on this basis, the study attempts to further make ananalysis on relationship and status of practical reason in its entire moral philosophy.Secondly, more research scholars of Kantian ethics more focus on its rule, absolutecommand and free will, rather than probe into his ethical system from practical reason.Meanwhile, more understanding of Kant’s moral philosophy is to start from the"moral metaphysics foundation" and hereby as important texts of Kantian ethics, sothat they lack of acknowledging the important status of practical reason in his moralphilosophy system. This study is trying to conduct a more comprehensive analysisand interpretation of Kant’s concept of practical reason from these perspectives.The purpose of this writing is: First, to retrospect practical rational thinking ofphilosophers, who had an important influence on Kant, thereby to infer theoreticalorigin of Kant’s practical reason. Secondly, committed to understand Kant’s moralphilosophy system by taking practical rationality as an entry point, thus to analyze thecore connotations meaning of practical rationality as its moral philosophy. Finally, toreach a conclusion on later thinkers’ inheritance and replenishing of his practicalrational thought by combing Kant’s practical reason and to prospect the lack ofcontemporary moral philosophy by taking Kant’s practical reason as a moral principle,and hope to return to Kant’s practice rational thinking as the possibility ofconstructing the modern moral philosophy.