Kant on Remorse, Conversion, and the Descent into the Hell of Self-Cognition

Kantian Review 29 (3):447-466 (2024)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Kant’s conception of remorse has received little discussion in the literature. I argue that he thinks we ought to experience remorse for both retributivist and forward-looking reasons. This account casts helpful light on his ideas of conversion and the descent into the hell of self-cognition. But while he prescribes a heartbreakingly painful experience of remorse, he acknowledges that excess remorse can threaten rational agency through distraction and suicide, and this raises questions about whether actual human beings ought to cultivate their consciences in such a way as to experience remorse in the way he conceives it.

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 103,486

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Analytics

Added to PP
2024-10-06

Downloads
18 (#1,172,870)

6 months
18 (#150,879)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Benjamin Vilhauer
City College of New York (CUNY)

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals.Immanuel Kant - 1996 - In Mary J. Gregor, Practical Philosophy. Cambridge University Press. pp. 37-108.
The Duty of Self-Knowledge.Owen Ware - 2009 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 79 (3):671-698.
Duty and Desolation.Rae Langton - 1992 - Philosophy 67 (262):481 - 505.
Five perspectives on holding wrongdoers responsible in Kant.Benjamin Vilhauer - 2023 - British Journal for the History of Philosophy 32 (1):100-125.

View all 10 references / Add more references