Correction of the dimensions and the categorical imperative

שו”ת › Category: moral › Correction of the dimensions and the categorical imperative

asked 3 months ago

In the lesson that ended a few days ago (Dogmatics, lesson 31), you brought up Rabbi Chaim Vital’s question about there being no mitzvah to correct one’s manners, etc.
I wanted to ask – in “The First Imperative,” you explain that Kant’s categorical imperative demands morality for the sake of personal self-improvement, which ultimately makes the world a better place, but that is not the purpose of the categorical imperative.
Is the demand for correction of the dimensions (in this case – brought by the Rahv) parallel to the categorical order or does it add to it?
That is, as I understand it, if someone understands what is moral and does it without internal identification (corrupted values), he is ostensibly “paying off” according to the categorical imperative, but since his values are corrupt, he is not paying off by “correcting his values.”
Am I right?

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מיכי Staff answered 3 months ago

If you ask what Kant meant, I can only guess. But my opinion is that this is exactly what Kant’s categorical imperative means. Kant himself believes that the moral act is not intended to achieve any goal but to create a more complete person. The way to do this is to do actions that will make the world better. It is still debatable whether actions alone are enough for this or whether internal identification (correction of morals) is also needed. In my opinion, this is at least part of the meaning of the completeness we are talking about.

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בועז replied 3 months ago

” Not intended to achieve any goal but to create a more complete person”. Isn't creating a more complete person a different goal from the very moral obligation?

מיכי Staff replied 3 months ago

I don't think so. The moral obligation is about doing something whole and being whole.

מיכי Staff replied 3 months ago

(I guess what the next question will be)):

בועז replied 3 months ago

If the motivation is self-improvement, there is no morality here, it is the work of the self.

מיכי Staff replied 3 months ago

Absolutely not. It is not for my own interest but for a value that is the will of God. He wants me to complete myself. In other words: it is for Him and not for me. I am the object of the work but it is not done for me.

בועז replied 3 months ago

How did you come to the conclusion that God wants you to complete yourself and that this is part of the definition of the commandment and not his personal goal, for example (if we have any understanding of his goals at all)?

מיכי Staff replied 3 months ago

The same intuition that leads me to believe that he wants me to be moral tells me that there is also value in moderate measures.