Physicians think they do a lot for a patient when they give his disease a name.
Immanuel KantRead
. . . as to moral feeling, this supposed special sense, the appeal to it is indeed superficial when those who cannot think believe that feeling will help them out, even in what concerns general laws: and besides, feelings which naturally differ infinitely in degree cannot furnish a uniform standard of good and evil, nor has any one a right to form judgments for others by his own feelings. . . .
Interpretation
What this quote means
Kant suggests that moral judgments should be based on rational thought rather than subjective feelings.
In this quote, Immanuel Kant emphasizes that relying solely on feelings to determine morality is inadequate. He argues that emotions vary greatly among individuals and cannot provide a consistent or universal standard for distinguishing good from evil. Instead, he advocates for the use of reason and rational thought to guide moral judgments, warning against the danger of imposing one's personal feelings onto others.
Themes
MoralityFeelingsReasonJudgmentImmanuel Kant
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about ethics and decision making, one might reference this quote to argue for a rational approach to morality.
More from Immanuel Kant
All quotes →The inscrutable wisdom through which we exist is not less worthy of veneration in respect to what it denies us than in respect to what it has granted.
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One cannot avoid a certain feeling of disgust, when one observes the actions of man displayed on the great stage of the world. Wisdom is manifested by individuals here and there; but the web of human history as a whole appears to be woven from folly and childish vanity, often, too, from puerile wickedness and love of destruction: with the result that at the end one is puzzled to know what idea to form of our species which prides itself so much on its advantages.
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I shall never forget my mother, for it was she who planted and nurtured the first seeds of good within me. She opened my heart to the lasting impressions of nature; she awakened my understanding and extended my horizon and her percepts exerted an everlasting influence upon the course of my life.
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Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the oftener and more steadily we reflect on them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me.
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Our knowledge springs from two fundamental sources of the mind; the first is the capacity of receiving representations (receptivity for impressions), the second is the power of knowing an object through these representations (spontaneity [in the production] of concepts).
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