Kant's Theory of Freedom

In his new book the eminent Kant scholar Henry Allison provides an innovative and comprehensive interpretation of Kant's concept of freedom. The author analyzes the concept and discusses the role it plays in Kant's moral philosophy and psychology. He also considers in full detail the critical literature on the subject from Kant's own time to the present day. In the first part P...

In his new book the eminent Kant scholar Henry Allison provides an innovative and comprehensive interpretation of Kant's concept of freedom. The author analyzes the concept and discusses the role it plays in Kant's moral philosophy and psychology. He also considers in full detail the critical literature on the subject from Kant's own time to the present day. In the first part Professor Allison argues that at the centre of the Critique of Pure Reason there is the foundation for a coherent general theory of rational agency. The second part employs this account of rational agency as a key to understanding Kant's concept of moral agency and associated moral psychology. The third part focuses on Kant's attempt to ground both moral law and freedom in the Groundwork and the Critique of Practical Reason. This is a major contribution to the interpretation of Kant which will be of special interest to scholars and graduate students of Kant's moral theory.

本书作者享利·E·阿利森观为美国波士顿大学教授，当代英语世界研究康德哲学的权威学者。本书出版于1990年。书中对康德的自由理论进行全面、详尽、细致的探讨。作者在第一编中指出在《纯粹理性批判》的核心之处存在着关于理性行为能力的内在一贯的一般理论，接着在第二编运用这种关于理性行为能力的论述，作为理解康德的道德行为能力概念以及与之相关的道德心理学的钥匙，第三编则集中探讨康德在《道德形而上学基础》和《实践理性批判》中为道德律和自由建立根据的努力。作者提出“结合论”和“交互论”，来解读康德本人对自由概念与道德律的论证，这无疑是康德哲学研究界的一个重大独创，将会影响一代学者对康德哲学的研究。