Professor Predrag Cicovacki (USA)
The Problem of Moral Authority in Kant and Post-Kantian Ethics

Session 5: Exercise of the First and the Second Reading, on the Example of Kant's Essay: “On the Supposed Right to Lie because of Philanthropic Concerns”

Our homework for today will be to try to understand and evaluate Kant's essay “On the Supposed Right to Lie because of Philanthropic Concerns.” Our task will be to advance further in developing the techniques of the first and the second readings of the same text by focusing on the following questions with regard to the mentioned essay:

First reading – understanding the text

Against whom is the author arguing?
What is the central problem he is trying to resolve in the text?
What is the main claim made in the text?
Is the author's main claim presented clearly?
On the basis of what moral authority is the main claim made? (For example: Is the author's position based on common sense, or on some special insight?)

Second reading – evaluation of the text
Is the author's central claim correct/true?
Is it supported adequately and sufficiently (by examples and evidence cited)?
Could the main claim be supported by better examples?
Are there some issues that the author does not address in the text, but the consideration of which would be important for the proper discussion of the issue?

Literature:

• Immanuel Kant, “On the Supposed Right to Lie because of Philanthropic Concerns,” included in Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals , trans. James W. Ellington (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1993), supplement, pp. 63-67.