Humanities Homework Help

Immanuel Kant argues that morality must be based on the good will.  He argues that human beings must use their freewill to choose the good and modify their natural and social world so that the world progresses towards the moral good.  Whereas Kant argues that morality must be based on human will and its management, Epictetus and Hobbes offer two alternative positions on the will and ethics.  Although Epictetus agrees that humans can detach their will from the world (a kind of freewill), he believes humans are subjected to impersonal forces and must base their ethics on it.  Contrary to both of them, Hobbes argues that there is no freewill, only material forces.  For Hobbes, our “will” is a psychological drive to dominate/persist, and we must understand this material reality/psychology to redirect different individual wills to create a sustainable and cooperative society.   

In your paper, explain how Kant uses the good will to argue for human moral responsibility and ethics.  Choose either Epictetus and/or Hobbes and explain how they offer a different view of will and ethics.  Analyze the pros and cons of each opposing sides’ arguments (i.e. Kant vs. Epictetus and/or Hobbes) and determine which one is most compelling (i.e. logically convincing).  Finally, defend the logic of your conclusion.