Virtue, Wide Duties, and Casuistry. On why there is a Doctrine of Method in Kant’s Doctrine of Virtue

Abstract

Abstract This paper deals primarily with the Doctrine of Method (DM) of Kant’s Doctrine of Virtue. First, I present an overview of the DM (1.1) and an explanation of how it is possible to teach virtue (1.2). Second, I address the following issues: Why is a DM necessary at all (2.1)? How does the DM relate to what Kant calls casuistry (2.2)? I will argue that wide duties have two essential characteristics: They command the right kind of moral motivation in terms of a moral maxim, and they allow for latitude. The fact that wide duties command the right kind of motivation leads to the DM; the latitude of wide duties, however, leads to casuistry. To unfold this interpretation, it must also be shown that both imperfect and perfect duties are wide duties.