See the axis · The highest good

ObjectionAttacks the reasoning

Unconditional is not total

That virtue is the only good that cannot be misused proves it has a worth apart, not that it is, by itself, the whole good of a life.

Objects to

Kant ·

  1. The argument establishes this: virtue is the only good that stays good under every use, the only one 'without reservation'.
  2. But from 'only unconditional good' to 'only good' is a leap: that a thing is the only one worth something in every circumstance does not say it is the only one worth something. Pleasure, health, friendship can be genuine goods, though conditional, that is, good when they do not serve evil.
  3. himself sees it: the good will is the unconditional good, but the complete highest good unites virtue and the happiness it deserves, not virtue alone. The unconditional worth of uprightness makes it the condition of the rest, not its replacement.

Therefore So the argument proves that virtue must command the other goods, not that it abolishes them: the highest good might be not uprightness alone, but the ordered whole of goods under the guidance of uprightness.

Possible resolutions of the objection

Your choice is recorded in your profile, like a questionnaire answer.