ABSTRACT
Kant holds that the data of everyday moral experience refer equally to the static and to the dynamic function of moral judgments. In addition the data of everyday moral experience contain a distinct reference to the primacy of morality as made manifest in the concept of the good will. In other words, people pronounce ‘one should do X’ just as habitually as they say ‘X is right’. Kant’s definition of freedom as the subjugation of desire by reason entails the equation freedom rational determination. Similarly, Kant’s definition of the good will as the will which subjugates desires to reason entails the equation: moral goodness rational determination. In both cases Kant seems actuated by an unwarranted belief in the moral goodness of reason as such. The critical theory started with the data of moral experience and found objective, universal laws and an objectively and universally valid obligation at the core of this experience.
