CHAPTER I. Of the Principles of Pure Practical Reason. Kant`s Critique of Practical Reason and Other Works on The Theory of Ethics | ||
II. THEOREM I.
All practical principles which presuppose an object (matter) of the faculty of desire as the ground of determination of the will are empirical and can furnish no practical laws.
By the matter of the faculty of desire I mean an object the realization of which is desired. Now, if the desire for this object precedes the practical rule and is the condition of our making it a principle, then I say (in the first place) this principle
In the second place, since susceptibility to a pleasure or pain can be known only empirically and cannot hold in the same degree for all rational beings, a principle which is based on this subjective condition may serve indeed as a maxim for the subject which possesses this susceptibility, but not as a law even to him (because it is wanting in objective necessity, which must be recognized a priori); it follows, therefore, that such a principle can never furnish a practical law.
CHAPTER I. Of the Principles of Pure Practical Reason. Kant`s Critique of Practical Reason and Other Works on The Theory of Ethics | ||