EDUCATION (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -The one thing that has intrinsic value, for Kant, is the autonomous good will of a person. That said, Kant does not understand the expression “good will” in the everyday sense. In everyday discourse we might speak of someone being a person of good will if they want to do good things.

Detailed explanation-2: -In Kant’s terms, a good will is a will whose decisions are wholly determined by moral demands or, as he often refers to this, by the Moral Law. Human beings inevitably feel this Law as a constraint on their natural desires, which is why such Laws, as applied to human beings, are imperatives and duties.

Detailed explanation-3: -For Kant the basis for a Theory of the Good lies in the intention or the will. Those acts are morally praiseworthy that are done out of a sense of duty rather than for the consequences that are expected, particularly the consequences to self. The only thing GOOD about the act is the WILL, the GOOD WILL.

Detailed explanation-4: -This is why Kant says that a good will is the only intrinsic good.

Detailed explanation-5: -Second, and even more important, humans have “an intrinsic worth, i.e., dignity, ” because they are rational agents-that is, free agents capable of making their own decisions, setting their own goals, and guiding their conduct by reason.