ABSTRACT
"The Spirit of Christianity" contains the first statement of many criticisms G. W. F. Hegel will later bring against morality: its tendency to hypocrisy, its misguided criticism of actions in which agents satisfy their particular individuality, its fixation upon an "ought" which can never be transformed into an "is." Notably absent from the list of accusations is the "emptiness" charge. Hegel has now developed his own standpoint of "morality," with its own positive conception of moral agency and responsibility, the moral good and the morally good will. "Morality" is no longer merely a false substitute for "ethics"; it has come to represent one of the essential positive moments of modern ethical life. Comparing Hegel's theory of the good will with Kant's, we see that Hegel's theory makes the good will and morally worthy actions essentially harder to acquire in one way, but essentially easier in another.
