Demandingness, indebtedness, and charity

Kant on imperfect duties to others

Käte Moran

pp. 307-329

in: The Palgrave Kant handbook, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017

Abstract

This chapter focuses on imperfect duties to others. It offers an analysis of two subtly different arguments that Kant gives for our duty of assistance toward others – one emphasizing the moral imperative to universalize our desire for happiness, the other emphasizing our neediness as human beings. Moran further considers Kant's suggestion that we have an obligation not to depend on others, and attempts to resolve the seeming tension between a demanding duty of assistance and the duty of self-sufficiency.

Cited authors

Kant Immanuel