Abstract

MAREY, Macarena. The Role of the Happiness of Others in Kant’s Practical Philosophy. Diánoia [online]. 2017, vol.62, n.78, pp.119-145. ISSN 0185-2450.

The aim of this paper is to introduce and try to solve a problem Kant’s opposition to eudemonism could pose to the second duty of virtue. After analysing this problem, I hold that the duty to promote the happiness of others dissolves at least one of the obstacles one faces when striving to achieve one’s own happiness on Earth, which we naturally desire as finite rational beings. Unlike the intellectual notion of happiness implied by the concept of the highest good, the duty to promote the happiness of others places hedonic happiness within the realm of morality. This is, I propose, the fundamental role the second duty of virtue plays in Kant’s ethical system.

Keywords : eudemonism; finite rationality; natural longing; second duty of virtue; beneficence.