Moral Freedom
Moral Freedom by Nicolai Hartmann, published by Transaction Publishers in 2004, is a revised edition that spans 288 pages. This work is a significant contribution to moral philosophy, focusing on the concept of free will as a necessary precondition for morality. Hartmann engages with the longstanding debate surrounding the individual’s freedom of the will, challenging the determinist perspective that posits such freedom as impossible. He explores the relationship between causality and free will, while also addressing the interplay between moral values and individual autonomy.
In this edition, readers will find a thorough examination of the philosophical tensions that arise from the concepts of moral values and free will, an area often overlooked by previous thinkers. Hartmann’s analysis includes a critical look at the arguments surrounding the existence of free will in relation to moral values, posing essential questions about its conception. The book concludes with a postscript discussing the antinomies between ethics and religion, further enriching the discourse on moral philosophy. This edition is presented in English and offers a comprehensive exploration of ethics, free will, and their implications in both philosophical and theological contexts.
Official synopsis Publisher
Ethics is Nicolai Hartmann’s magnum opus on moral philosophy. Volume 1, Moral Phenomena, is concerned with the nature and structure of ethical phenomena. Volume 2, Moral Values, describes all values as forming a complex and imperfectly known system. The final volume, Moral Freedom, deals with one of the oldest puzzles in both philosophy and theology: the individual’s freedom of the will.
Freedom of the will is a necessary precondition of morality. Without it, there is no morality in the full sense of the word. In Moral Freedom Hartmann sets out to refute the determinist view that freedom of the will is impossible. Following Kant, while rejecting his transcendentalism, Hartmann first discusses the tension between causality and the freedom of the will.
The tension between the determination by moral values and the freedom of the will is next examined, a crucial issue completely overlooked by Kant and virtually all other modern philosophers, but recognized by the scholastics. Why should we believe in the freedom of the will with regard to the moral values? Are there good reasons for thinking that it exists? If freedom of the will vis-a-vis the moral values does exist, how is it to be conceived? Moral Freedom concludes with the famous postscript on the antinomies between ethics and religion.
Hartmann’s Ethics may well be the most outstanding treatise on moral philosophy in the twentieth century. Andreas Kinneging’s introduction sheds light on the volume’s continuing relevance.
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