Discourse On Kant' Moral Feeling

The theory of Kant's moral feeling is very special, for he believes the respect for moral law is the only moral feeling, and it is inspired by personality. In pre-critical period, Kant is influenced by sentimentalism, but in critical period, he changes his attitude and includes the moral in the scope of pure philosophy. He thinks the moral law determines the will directly, and not by means of a feeling of any kind whatsoever. Kant introduces respect as a special feeling, and thinks that this particular feeling is provided by the moral law, not for the proof of the moral, but as subjective effects produced by moral law. Such a feeling is different from all the pathological sense of emotion, is a pure moral feeling.The feeling of respect implies a moral interest, but this interest is different from emotional interest. Kant distinguishes moral interest from the emotional interest, and points out that the moral interest is a pure interest or a rational inclination, in fact, the moral interest is the feeling of respect. The moral action must be from duty, not according to duty. The respect for the moral law must be the moral motivation. The feeling of respect is generated from eliminating the interference of emotions. The moral duty requires respect for the moral law to be the subjective maxim of action, and this manifests the respect is the key factor to distinguish whether an act is moral action.The feeling of respect stems from man's finiteness, because man is the rational existence. then the moral law should determine the will directly, but man's will would be influenced by the emotion, so he needs the respect for the law to exclude all emotions. The finiteness of man reveals man exists both in a sensible world and in an intelligible world. Man's dual existence reflects the conflict between the nature and the freedom. It is the respect that arouses the highest mission of man, and then makes the dual existence united in the same subject. The personality exhibits the highest value of moral and arouses the feeling of the respect for the moral law.