An Epicurean Kant

Bernhardt, Laura Marie

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Description

Title

An Epicurean Kant

Author(s)

Bernhardt, Laura Marie

Issue Date

2001

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Melnick, Arthur

Department of Study

Philosophy

Discipline

Philosophy

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

Philosophy

Language

eng

Abstract

"In order to argue this ""whole theory"", I begin by exploring Kant's interest in Epicurus and the Stoics, particularly relative to his discussion of the proper relation of happiness and virtue in the summum bonum , his use of the postulates of pure practical reason, and his deployment of the concept of selbstzufriedenheit (self-satisfaction) as distinct from the Hellenistic notion of ataraxia. My suggestion is that Kantian virtue takes up the Stoic view of an orderly universe, but requires the self-management and ""cheerful"" discipline of Epicurus in order to work well. This discipline, which I take to be the condition under which worthiness to be happy (a) is possible for us and (b) begins to make sense in Kant's moral thinking, is one that requires what the Kant of Religion Within the Boundaries of Mere Reason might call a descent into ""the hell of self-cognition."" In order to make sense of this idea, I spend time on three discussions that might not otherwise appear related to each other: Kant's debt to Lutheran religious thinking, his account of theory and practice, and his brief remarks on ethical pedagogy and method in the second Critique."

Graduation Semester

2001

Type of Resource

text

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