A Characteristic of Kant’s Good Will

A characteristic of Kant’s good will is that it is free of particular interests. A free will is autonomous and is guided by reason. A heteronomous will is guided by sentiment, context, or self-interest.



"Inside a Texas children’s hospital, an 11-month-old girl [named Tinslee] lies paralyzed and in constant pain. She can breathe only with a ventilator. A suite of medications keeps her alive. Tinslee’s condition, doctors say, will never improve. The infant’s health-care team at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth says that every medical procedure it performs on her causes only more suffering and that she should be allowed to die naturally and peacefully. Her mother is begging for her daughter to be kept alive. The emotionally charged decision about Tinslee’s fate fell to a Tarrant County district court judge, who on Thursday ruled in favor of the hospital" (1).



*The physician and the parent each have a will to act morally. Use Kant’s criteria to describe will.



-Characterize the will of the physician in this case as either heteronomous or autonomous. Be sure to provide your reasons for that characterization.

-Characterize the will of the parent providing reasons for your characterization.

-What would you do if you were the physician?

-What would you do if you were the parent?