Autonomy, progress and virtue : why Kant has nothing to fear from the overdemandingness objection

Abstract

It does not bode well for an ethical theory if it inflicts unrealistic requirements on moral agents, if it strains human nature unduly, or if the price of complying with its prescriptions seems not worth paying. Classical utilitarianism is particularly vulnerable to such objections.1 It is, however, a legitimate question whether other ethical systems fare any better. In this paper, I address the issue whether Kant’s ethics can be impugned or rejected on the grounds that it is overly demanding.