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Essay / Kant's views on love
Kant's doctrine of duty explores the relationship between moral duty and law: "Love between people can arise only when the binding force of moral duty is exercises. » According to Kant, duty should never be seen as imposing and imprisoning. We must never think of it as something that seeks only to destroy freedom and love. Instead, we must realize that love can only truly be realized in a relationship bound by a sense of duty. There are two kinds of duties: extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic duty can be defined as a duty that has been imposed on the object by external situations or elements; for example, religious institutions, society or the family unit. Intrinsic duty is a feeling of duty that takes root within oneself. It is the latter of the two that Kant, in his Critique of Practical Reason, sets out. He explains that we must voluntarily submit to a universal moral principle. Without a transcendental and universal moral foundation, there would be no objective morality. This in turn would lead to the advent of moral relativism and subjectivity. This would encourage the pursuit of love for selfish reasons. We can get around this by committing to a “categorical imperative”; that is to say, a law that applies to everyone. One only becomes moral by entering into a contractual relationship bound by duty. Outside of this contractual relationship, morality is based only on opinions, and there is no universal moral law. Any notion of objective morality and absolute good is therefore quickly destroyed. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an Original EssayIn order to better understand one's views on love, another fundamental statement needs to be analyzed: “In the absence of duty , love is hopelessly selfish, fickle, and lacking in objective morality. Kant outlines the framework of this categorical imperative to which we must submit: "Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of others, always as an end in itself and never as a simple way. » This universal principle must be followed in order to pursue love morally and virtuously. According to Kant, all beings have intrinsic value. These are all ends in themselves. They are to be loved for their own inner worth and are not to be used as a means to achieve something else, but only to be disposed of once the ultimate goal is achieved. Their value must therefore not be undermined or devalued. When a man claims to love a woman, but only wants to manipulate her and use her for wealth or social status, she becomes "a mere means to an end of personal satisfaction." However, if a man loves a woman for her own intrinsic value and enters into a consensual and honest relationship with her, he can be said to pursue love in a truthful and moral manner. The purest form of such a contractual relationship can only be realized in marriage, says Kant. He even says that sex outside of marriage is selfish. Throughout his argument, Kant emphasizes the obligatory nature of love. As humans, we are obligated to willingly capitulate to a higher moral order. There are, however, some counter-arguments that can be made to this approach: Kant does not address the possibility of an altruistic dimension of love. He only speaks of love as a moral obligation. Second, Kant believes in absolutes. Love is either duty-based or immoral. Why should the different forms of love be criticized by the.