Moral Duty vs. Personal Desires: The Dilemma of Good Acts

Abstract

Initial post Acting in accordance with one's duty is the same as acting in accordance with one's own desires. The actions themselves have not altered, but the purpose behind them has. A soldier, for example, has no choice but to go to battle and will not be able to avoid combat. However, it's likely that they've made this decision to join the military in order to fulfill their civic obligation to their country. In other cases, people may enlist in order to take advantage of all of the benefits the military has to offer. These two scenarios are identical except for the motivations that drive them. People who are fighting for the sake of their country may not have a moral dilemma regarding why they are doing so, but those who are doing it for financial gain may have a hard time justifying why they are doing so.' A good will act is one performed out of desire rather than obligation, according to what I understand Kant to have said. In many cases, people don't do good deeds for the sake of good deeds, but rather to reward themselves for the nice feelings they get from doing good. For tax purposes, a lot of the folks I know contribute to non-profits and secondhand shops like Goodwill. Reply Excellent post, I like the comment you’ve put of a soldier, for example, has no choice but to fight and cannot avoid it. They probably joined the military to fulfill their civic duty to their country. Other times, people enlist to take advantage of the military's perks. Notably, it’s true to say Good will is when you do something because you want to, not because you have to. This is what I think Kant meant when he said this. Most of the time,...