Certezza morale e sentimento del Bene nella "Indagine sulla chiarezza"

The closing paragraph of Kant’s 1764 essay, Inquiry Concerning the Distinctness of the Principles of Natural Theology and Morality, is widely regarded as his first contribution to moral theory. This article offers an interpretation of the text, comparing Kant’s position with the prevailing moral theories of German rationalism. In particular, the article deals with Kant’s criticism of the way they conceive the moral certainty in relation to the concept of obligation. Kant argues that conceiving this certainty as cognitive evidence contradicts the very necessity of obligation. To this kind of evidence, Kant opposes an obligation based on feeling, showing at the same time the difficulties related to this solution. The article also contends that this approach is not new, but that it can be seen as a confirmation of what Kant argued in his 1755 dissertation Nova dilucidatio. The conclusion is that the Inquiry does not represent a departure from Kant’s alleged previous Wolffianism and can be read as a reassesement of his own theory.