Kant and the Origins of the Good Will

Kant and the Origins of the Good Will is an in-depth study of the development of Immanuel Kant's moral philosophy from its beginnings in the 1750s up to the mid-1780s. The book also examines how Kant's moral views intersect with aspects of his metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of religion.

The good will and the dignity of humanity are centralbut often overlooked or controvertedelements of Kant's moral philosophy. In this volume, Patrick Kain systematically investigates the origins and emergence of Kant's moral philosophy, as well as the significance of the good will and the dignity of humanity within it. Starting with some of Kant's early published works, notes and drafts, and student notes from his lectures in a wide range of disciplines, the book examines Kants thought over the course of several decades.

Kain's analysis of Kant begins with a careful historical and philosophical reconstruction of his conception of the divine will, which reflected, influenced, and informed his developing moral philosophy. Kant and the Origins of the Good Will then provides a detailed interpretation of the emergence of Kant's moral philosophy prior to the publication of the Groundwork (1785). This study of the place of the good will and the dignity of humanity in Kant's thought sheds new light on the origins and content of Kant's published works on moral philosophy in the 1780s.