A Study On Christine M.Korsgaard’s Normative Theory

Christine M.Korsgaard is a leading modern American philosopher and ethicist.She studied under Rawls and received her Ph D in philosophy from Harvard University.Korsgaard is a brilliant thinker and is a key member of the modern Western school of Kantianism.In her 1978 book The Sources of Normativity,which explores the nature and sources of moral normativity,Korsgaard asks a question that is both intuitive and profound: why can a moral norm be a norm? Korsgaard calls this question the ’normative problem’,and the theory that addresses it is ’normative theory’.The study of normative theory differs from the work of traditional ethicists in that,before the formation of a scientific worldview,people were used to theorising about ethical values such as goodness,justice and virtue;after the formation of a scientific worldview,people began to reflect on the authoritative basis of the question "Why do you have to" the authoritative basis for this question.Our exploration of the question of moral norms and moral sources is a questioning of the foundations of moral values and moral obligations,a justification of the authority conferred by moral norms.Korsgaard gives his answer to the normative question and sees it as a solution to the question of ’how we should behave’.Further,Korsgaard builds on her answer to the question "What convinces us of the existence of morality?" On the basis of her answer to the question "What convinces us of the existence of morality",she identifies four traditional arguments for normativity in recent times.The four theories are the determinism of God proposed by voluntarists,the existence of reality proposed by positivists,the ’reflective recognition’ proposed by emotionalists,and the Kantian appeal to self-obligation.After analysing and critiquing the traditional arguments on normativity,Korsgaard follows Kantian ethics in an in-depth study of normative theory.She uses reflection as the constructive basis for a theory of normativity,arguing that individuals can form normative claims on themselves by reflecting on their own actions and values.She adopts a first-person perspective on the construction of normative theories and proposes a systematic interpretation of the moral law using the concepts of ’practical sameness’ and ’moral sameness’.In short,Korsgaard’s theory of normativity is based on her study of reflection and the problem of sameness,and argues that normativity is determined by the sameness of the individual’s self with the rules,and that moral self-regulation is the core of the formation mechanism.When individuals reflect on their own behaviour and values,they find that some of their actions and thoughts do not correspond to their ideal image,resulting in an internal pressure and self-demand.This self-demand is based on the individual’s quest for identity and sameness,an internal moral code.Korsgaard’s theory of normativity is an innovative theory of normativity that extends Kantian ethical theory in a moral-philosophical sense.In general,her normative theory focuses more on the individual’s internal moral norms and self-requirements,and places greater emphasis on the important role of moral self-discipline in the formation of moral norms.