"The inner judicial proceeding of conscience may be aptly compared with an external court of law."

— Kant, Immanuel (1724-1804)


Date
1780-1?
Metaphor
"The inner judicial proceeding of conscience may be aptly compared with an external court of law."
Metaphor in Context
The inner judicial proceeding of conscience may be aptly compared with an external court of law. Thus we find within us an accuser, who could not exist, however, if there were no law; though the latter is no part of the civil positive law, but resides in reason ... In addition, there is also at the same time in the human being an advocate, namely self-love, who excuses him and makes many an objection to the accusation, whereupon the accuser seeks in turn to rebut the objections. Lastly we find in ourselves a judge, who either acquits or condemns us.
(VE 27:354)
Categories
Provenance
Reading Allen W. Wood's Kantian Ethics. Cambridge, Cambridge UP, 2007. p. 184.
Date of Entry
02/04/2010

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.