Criticism Of Kant’s Moral Law

Kant’s thought of moral law has been valued and discussed by scholars since its birth.This article tries to have a certain interpretation of the Kant’s moral law thoughts.lt also investigates Kant’s thought of moral law from historical materialism,tries to explain the problems existing in Kant’s thought of moral law,discusses Marx’s solutions to the related problems,and clarifies the similar views between them on some problems,to get a clear picture and a reasonable positioning of Kant’s thought of moral law.Firstly,starting from the book "Principles of Moral Metaphysics",this paper interprets Kant’s thought of moral law through the process of derivation.This paper investigates the derivation of the formal principle,the categorical imperative and three formulae including the in-itself purpose formula,the will self-discipline formula and the purpose kingdom formula respectively,and expounds their relations.This paper argues that Kant’s thought of moral law cannot be simply equated with the formal principle and the categorical imperative,but should be understood as a whole,that is,on the basis of the formal principle and the categorical imperative,with three groups of formulae connected with the two.The elements of the three formulae are also a priori independent of experience and do not change the principle of form and the categorical imperative..Moreover,the inclusion of the three formulae can better solve some problems in judging only by the formal principle and the categorical imperative.This holistic understanding is more in line with Kant’s logical reasoning process and can respond to the criticism of some scholars.Secondly,this paper criticizes Kant’s thought of moral law,based on historical materialism.Kant’s moral law is based on the separation of phenomena from the thing-in-itself and the presupposition of freedom.And he regarded man,the subject of the moral law,as an abstract rational concept with no difference in essence.Moreover he uses the self-discipline of the will to ensure the practice of the moral law.This paper holds that the above thoughts make his moral law thought full of mystery and fomality,which directly leads to the realistic dilemma.This paper insists on Marx’s social ideological definition of morality,his affirmation of realistic human beings,his pointing out of the limit of self-discipline and his integration of heteronomy,and holds that these thoughts point out the direction and thinking for solving the realistic dilemma of Kant’s thought of moral law,and realize the criticism and transcendence of Kant’s thought of moral law.However,Kant’s thought of moral law is still worthy of affirmation,and the fourth part of this paper focuses on this point.Although Kant believes that the essence of human is an abstract rational concept,he still emphasizes that human is a purpose,not only as a means,according to the purpose formula.In addition,there are similarities between Marx’s thoughts and Kant’s treatise on practical reason in the field of ontology and the positive free thought embodied in the formula of will self-discipline.This similarity cannot be simply ignored,which may prove that there is a succession relationship between Marx and Kant.Finally,this paper tries to analyze the significance of Kant’s thought of moral law to the current social moral construction,and gives it a reasonable positioning.In view of the current moral crisis,the thought of self-discipline contained in the moral law is still enlightening.However,as revealed by historical materialism,the role that moral self-discipline can play under the impact of material interests is questionable.Therefore,we need not only the self-discipline that Kant emphasizes,but also the heteronomic perspective that he lacks.In other words,we need to achieve the unity of self-discipline and heteronomy that Marx reveals.We should attach importance to moral education,give reasonable positioning to moral education,and improve the inner moral cultivation of the masses.It is also necessary to establish a relatively perfect system of laws,rules and regulations and social credit,so as to promote internal development from outside.Ultimately,we can form the moral governance pattern of dialectical unity of external heteronomy and internal self-discipline,and realize the goal of social moral construction.