Can Kantian Ethics Answer The Question Of "How Should I Live"?

This thesis focuses on the fundamental controversy between contemporary Virtue Ethics and Kant's Ethics.Bernard Williams,a representative of contemporary virtue ethics,believes that the core of ethical life is still to answer Socrates' question of"How should I live".The answer to this question is not limited to certain unique moral considerations.However,Kant's Ethics limits its considerations of a good life to moral life.A good life is defined by moral life.The concern for moral life replaces the thinking of a good life with a broader meaning.Further,Williams criticizes Kant's Ethics as it abstracts the identity of persons,thus interprets the moral agent as a pure rational being,and thus deduces a moral system.This system not only understands people as an abstract moral will,but also imposes an impartial practical requirement on the agents.Williams accordingly criticizes Kant's Ethics as it ignores personal character and personal relationship,undermines the integrity of individual identity,and therefore unable to answer the question of "How should I live?"Kant' s moral philosophy cannot respond well to Williams because of his own strong defense position.Korsgaard,the representative of contemporary Kantianism,justifies the basic position of Kant's Ethics by providing a "regress argument" for Kant's formula of humanity.By developing the theory of practical identity,she argues that from the perspective of general practical rationality,there is a possibility for the individual's dimension and universal humanity to be mutually connected.The theory of practical identity holds that action requires a reason from the practical identity,and that each practical identity relies on universal human values.Thus it is the universal identity that makes personal integrity possible,therefore Williams' Criticism of impartiality can be refuted.Therefore,Korsgaard's defense shows that Kantian Ethics can answer the question of "How should I live".Based on the perspective of public life and globalization,I emphasize the value of defending an action that is driven by universal and impartial practical requirement.The virtue of Kantian Ethics is that it not only provides support for personal character and personal relationships,but also leaves room for universal discussion.