Self-knowledge, Virtue and Character in Kant

Abstract

At the same time that Kant notice that self-knowledge plays a meaningful role in his philosophical proposal, either in the theoretical or the practical aspects of it, it is well known that he also points out some inner difficulties of self-knowledge: the incapacity to know ourselves as we are, i.e., noumenally; and the lack of moral certainty in the knowledge of our intentions, particularly in what constitutes our fundamental disposition. Although the latter allows us to delimit the proper paths of self-knowledge in Kant, this does not imply that it is entirely impossible, as seen in the practical sphere. In the present research paper, I intend to demonstrate the latter by articulating the notion of moral character that appears both in his Anthropology and in the various manuscripts relating to his winter courses in practical anthropology, with his characterization of virtue as fortitudo moralis.