Customer Reviews

The Categorical Imperative: A Study in Kant's Moral Philosophy

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Not for those that can't sit down and read a chapter at a time. However, those that can, will find this book extremly informitive. It is stunning to see such detail by an author that merely translated the origional doctrine. Have fun with this book- you will learn so much. However it seems that you must re-read a chapter after you have already done so, just to grasp the ideals that are corperated into this book.

A superbly readable commentary on Kant's 'Groundwork,' also drawing on Kant's other works to provide a thorough analysis of the famous Categorical Imperative. The more usual introduction to the 'Groundwork' is the much shorter book that contains Paton's much-praised translation, along with his very useful summary analysis of Kant's argument. The problem you may find is that while the first two parts of Kant's 'Groundwork' are not difficult to understand, the third part presents an argument that is hard to follow in detail. Freedom is the crucial concept, but you can end up going around in circles trying to figure out exactly what role it is supposed to be playing in Kant's account of the Categorical Imperative in relation to the actions of the perfectly rational agent or perfectly good will. To understand what's going on there, you really need to turn to this book. Here Paton explains why the line of argument in that third section is so difficult to follow, and why Kant fundamentally revised it in his 'Critique of Practical Reason.'