{"product_id":"the-reality-of-the-ideal-a-study-of-kants-highest-good-9780197785997","title":"The Reality of the Ideal: A Study of Kant's Highest Good","description":"Immanuel Kant claimed that when we act on the moral law, we engage in a collective project to bring about a world that we can only grasp in reason. The resulting image of an ideal world, Kant called, the \"highest good.\" Since Kant's time, this ideal has challenged philosophical interpretation. What, after all, is its use, if (as Kant thought) the moral law is sufficient to determine how we should act? What is the highest good actually \u003cem\u003egood\u003c\/em\u003e for in everyday life? In contrast to standard readings, which see the highest good's main importance related to action, \u003cem\u003eThe Reality of the Ideal\u003c\/em\u003e presents a fresh perspective according to which the highest good's primary importance is for certain moments of contemplation, both local and global in scope. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEnglert posits that on one hand, it is important locally as a point of comparison that enables us to judge moral progress or degrees of morality (and its opposite) in experience. On the other hand, it becomes important globally as a point of reference in relation to which we can construct a harmonious worldview. In both instances, it ultimately serves as a perfect point of comparison for an imperfect world. These contemplative moments, in sum, show that the highest good is an ineliminable feature of experience, anchoring a deep sense of meaning of how the whole of experience might fit together coherently. Out of this analysis, it becomes clear that while not existing in a standard sense, the ideal is anything but a fiction.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAlexander T. Englert \u003c\/strong\u003eis Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Richmond, Virginia. He is the author of many academic works in peer-reviewed journals, such as \u003cem\u003eBritish Journal for the History of Philosophy, Inquiry, \u003c\/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003eRes Philosophica\u003c\/em\u003e, as well as popular essays for \u003cem\u003eAeon \u003c\/em\u003emagazine and \u003cem\u003eThe Immanent Frame.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51623954710802,"sku":"9780197785997","price":103.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_2e3f47e0-548b-4f02-8a16-225db5199629.jpg?v=1758649995","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-reality-of-the-ideal-a-study-of-kants-highest-good-9780197785997","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}