Monday, January 7, 2013

Undeserved Pleasure and Deserved Happiness

While the title of #59 of the 3rd Critique is "Of Beauty as the Symbol of Morality", in the body of the section it is, more precisely, the "morally good" that Kant characterizes as the object of that symbol.  But, the implicit equation between Morality and the Good, i. e. between the principle of Pure Practical Reason and Happiness Proportionate to Virtue, conflates two concepts that are sharply distinguished in the 2nd Critique, an imprecision that is typical of the entire section, e. g. the cryptic reference to God, and the scattershot explanation of the proposed analogy between Beauty and Morality.  Now, insofar as Pleasure is produced by the contemplation of random natural formations, it can be characterized as an 'undeserved', indeterminate, event.  However, if such Pleasure were conceived as a reward, then it would be a 'deserved', determinate, event.  So, absent an alternative explanation from the Kant, the precise analogy between Beauty and the Good that his doctrine systematically entails is that between Undeserved Pleasure and Deserved Happiness.

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