Duty and Philosophy, a study of Kant

"Duty and Philosophy" If philosophy itself is a method of understanding, then there must first be something present for it to understand, and Kant identifies this something as the moral law. It is this purity that Kant acknowledges to exist without first needing to be perceived (which would therefore rely on that perception to validate it), and rightly claims as the absolute. He further argues that since this true and pure is omnipresent, then it …

…for correctly estimating them are missing." Hence, he logically concludes that if all of our practical utilitarian choices are made between two pulling forces, duty and its opposing inclinations, then the method with which we determine our decisions should solely rely on the former, and not the justifications found by observation, with which we assimilate and accept the latter. "From the Ordinary Knowledge of Morality to the Philosophical." Immanuel Kant. P.g. 2 and 3 of preface.