The main goal of this dissertation is to develop an overarching defense of Kant's idea of the highest good, against the criticisms pointed out in the English-speaking world, within the framework of the so-called \"Beck-Silber controversy.\"
As it is known, since the second half of the last century, when the \"Beck-Silber controversy\" started, Kant's idea of the highest good has been subject to a massive attack. These attacks motivated, in turn, the emergence of a counterforce of defenders, a group that I attempt to join through this work. Particularly, I have identified six criticisms against Kant's idea of the highest good, which I have labeled as the problems of heteronomy, unsuitability, impossibility, injustice, irrelevance, and abandonment. Thanks to this, we know what a complete defense of Kant's idea of the highest good requires. Now, once with all these criticisms identified, I develop a response to each of them. In that way, I show how Kant's idea of the highest good does not undermines the principle of autonomy; how the highest good has not only a place, but a privileged one in his moral philosophy; how it is possible to promote a world in which happiness is distributed in accordance to virtue; how the problem of injustice is both ungrounded and overestimated; how the highest good is actually relevant for morality; and finally, that Kant did not abandoned his idea of the highest good at the end of his life. In this way, I hope having saved the highest good as part of Kant's ethics.
","abstract_html":"<p>The main goal of this dissertation is to develop an overarching defense of Kant's idea of the highest good, against the criticisms pointed out in the English-speaking world, within the framework of the so-called "Beck-Silber controversy."</p><p>As it is known, since the second half of the last century, when the "Beck-Silber controversy" started, Kant's idea of the highest good has been subject to a massive attack. These attacks motivated, in turn, the emergence of a counterforce of defenders, a group that I attempt to join through this work. Particularly, I have identified six criticisms against Kant's idea of the highest good, which I have labeled as the problems of heteronomy, unsuitability, impossibility, injustice, irrelevance, and abandonment. Thanks to this, we know what a complete defense of Kant's idea of the highest good requires. Now, once with all these criticisms identified, I develop a response to each of them. In that way, I show how Kant's idea of the highest good does not undermines the principle of autonomy; how the highest good has not only a place, but a privileged one in his moral philosophy; how it is possible to promote a world in which happiness is distributed in accordance to virtue; how the problem of injustice is both ungrounded and overestimated; how the highest good is actually relevant for morality; and finally, that Kant did not abandoned his idea of the highest good at the end of his life. In this way, I hope having saved the highest good as part of Kant's ethics.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Villaran, Alonso"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Philosophy","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2010,"date_issued":"2010-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2010-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:55:08Z","subjects":["Ethics","Highest Good","Kant","Moral World","Postulates","Religion","Ethics in Religion"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/139","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Villaran, Alonso"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-03-31T17:08:17Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Philosophy"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Ethics","Highest Good","Kant","Moral World","Postulates","Religion","Ethics in Religion"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/139"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The main goal of this dissertation is to develop an overarching defense of Kant's idea of the highest good, against the criticisms pointed out in the English-speaking world, within the framework of the so-called \"Beck-Silber controversy.\"
As it is known, since the second half of the last century, when the \"Beck-Silber controversy\" started, Kant's idea of the highest good has been subject to a massive attack. These attacks motivated, in turn, the emergence of a counterforce of defenders, a group that I attempt to join through this work. Particularly, I have identified six criticisms against Kant's idea of the highest good, which I have labeled as the problems of heteronomy, unsuitability, impossibility, injustice, irrelevance, and abandonment. Thanks to this, we know what a complete defense of Kant's idea of the highest good requires. Now, once with all these criticisms identified, I develop a response to each of them. In that way, I show how Kant's idea of the highest good does not undermines the principle of autonomy; how the highest good has not only a place, but a privileged one in his moral philosophy; how it is possible to promote a world in which happiness is distributed in accordance to virtue; how the problem of injustice is both ungrounded and overestimated; how the highest good is actually relevant for morality; and finally, that Kant did not abandoned his idea of the highest good at the end of his life. In this way, I hope having saved the highest good as part of Kant's ethics.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["An Overarching Defense of Kant's Idea of the Highest Good"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Villaran, Alonso"],"dc:date.available":["2016-03-31T17:08:17Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The main goal of this dissertation is to develop an overarching defense of Kant's idea of the highest good, against the criticisms pointed out in the English-speaking world, within the framework of the so-called \"Beck-Silber controversy.\"
As it is known, since the second half of the last century, when the \"Beck-Silber controversy\" started, Kant's idea of the highest good has been subject to a massive attack. These attacks motivated, in turn, the emergence of a counterforce of defenders, a group that I attempt to join through this work. Particularly, I have identified six criticisms against Kant's idea of the highest good, which I have labeled as the problems of heteronomy, unsuitability, impossibility, injustice, irrelevance, and abandonment. Thanks to this, we know what a complete defense of Kant's idea of the highest good requires. Now, once with all these criticisms identified, I develop a response to each of them. In that way, I show how Kant's idea of the highest good does not undermines the principle of autonomy; how the highest good has not only a place, but a privileged one in his moral philosophy; how it is possible to promote a world in which happiness is distributed in accordance to virtue; how the problem of injustice is both ungrounded and overestimated; how the highest good is actually relevant for morality; and finally, that Kant did not abandoned his idea of the highest good at the end of his life. In this way, I hope having saved the highest good as part of Kant's ethics.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/139"],"dc:subject":["Ethics","Highest Good","Kant","Moral World","Postulates","Religion","Ethics in Religion"],"dc:title":["An Overarching Defense of Kant's Idea of the Highest Good"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Philosophy"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:55:08Z"}