Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
: 1702679
Over the years, there has been a debate about sources of motivation for enacting an
action. Some philosophers like Kant and Plato used the constitutional model and categorical
imperative to explain an action and why it is self-constitution. This paper is a summary and a
critical review of the constitutional model and why it is better than Hume’s combat model,
what an action is and how it pertains to an agent, Plato’s account of the constitutional model
Constitutional model
In the constitutional model passion and reason are assigned different functional and
structural roles in the soul. Passion and reason are responsible for generating a motive towards
an action. The human soul is equated to a constitution of a city- state. The constitutional model
defines what an action is and makes presumptions on what makes an action right or wrong. An
action is not just bald behavior or bodily movements. An action is brought into being by the
persons who conceive it. An action is formulated by specific attributes an individual possess1.
Different people form has different motives for implementing an action. Their motives are
either from reason or from passion. According to the constitutional model, an action is indeed
one’s own if it unifies him wholly the way a constitution unites a city- state. Good actions are
actions that give a person voluntary integrality when generating a motive2. On the other hand,
1
Christine M. 2009, Self-Constitution: Action, Identity, and Integrity, Oxford:
OxfordUniversity Press (especially “Autonomy and Efficacy”) Van Hooft, Stan, 2001.
2
Christine M Korsgaard,. The Sources of Normativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1996.
3
bad actions are implemented when something inside a person threatens his voluntary
Hume has a completely different view of passion and reason in his combat model.
According to Hume, a rational person has to regulate his actions according to logic. He states
that if any other principle like passion challenges logic, an individual ought to oppose or subdue
it. He argues that motives formed on reason are valid and consistent, but motives built from
passion are blind, inconsistent and deceitful3. This model does not hold up especially from a
third person’s conscious. In some cases, an individual’s actions are usually a result of one
motive overriding the other. For example, the urge to satisfy one’s passion may be stronger
than the reason not to. In this case, the difference between passion and reason is the same as
the difference between one passion and another. If one follows Hume’s line of thought, then
he will come to a conclusion that actions are no different than biological process or reflexes
which is wrong. An action is so much more than that, and the constitutional model proves it.
Action
type of action conceived is what sets aside an unjust person from a just person. An action is
governed by free will. Free will is determined by what part of the soul is superior which in
most cases the reason is. An action is an agent’s final choice on his identity to reason or passion.
According to Plato and Kant action is self-constitution. A good action establishes and maintains
voluntary unity of the human soul, and a wrong action makes it impossible for the soul to act
as a unified agent. All the three parts, reason, appetite, and spirit work as a unit. The principle
3
Hume David , A Treatise of Human Nature, 2nd Edition, edited by L. A. Selby-Bigge
and P. H. Nidditch (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978), Book II, Part III, Section III, p. 413.
of justice is used to implement good, or just actions and deliberative action by its nature
Plato uses the constitutional model to define the meaning of justice. He equates the
constitution of the soul to the city state’s constitution. He identifies the main elements of a city
which are rulers who constitute the law, the auxiliaries who execute and implement the law
and the common folk like farmers and merchants who provide for the city’s needs. The rulers
make the law according to what is best for the city as a whole. Each one of these elements in
the city performs their duties and do not meddle in each other’s responsibilities. The same
concept applies to the constitution of the soul. According to Plato, a soul has three parts reason,
appetites, and spirit. These parts work in the same way as the city- state elements. Reason
compares to the rulers, and it provides guidance for the good of the whole person, spirit
correlates with the auxiliaries where it enacts actions of reason and appetites which resemble
the common folk, and their work is to provide whatever needs are desired. A soul usually works
as a unit, appetites makes a proposal regarding a certain issue, reason decides whether to act
on it or not, and the spirit carries reason’s decision out. According to Plato when the main
elements in a city- state perform their duties, they ultimately end up working as a unit. The
constitution possesses a regularizing force which ensures that the three parties work as a single
consolidated agent4. The constitution is one of the deliberative procedures that ensure that
4
Christine M Korsgaard. The Sources of Normativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1996.
3
there is justice in the city and allows the city to act a single unified unit. Justice is what makes
Kant’s categorical imperative is also known as the law of free will. The idea of freedom
is common in rational beings. Free will is a self- governing process that allows human beings
to make their own decisions. According to Kant free will is autonomous because a person has
the ability to decide whether or not to implement a certain action. With free will comes
he is most inclined to5. His motive will be based on reason and what will be the outcome of the
action if implemented. For example, if a certain item is appealing, the inclination is to purchase
this particular item which is termed as a proposal. Free will determines whether or not to buy
this particular item based on reason. Free will does not follow any laws apart from the laws
constitutional model because inclination presents a proposal, reason decides whether to act on
Conclusion
The combat model has many flaws as explained in the text above. It does not give an
accurate picture of the human souls and is biased to reason. It does not account for other
elements that have functional roles in the soul like the constitutional model. The constitutional
model can be viewed as the formal standards for deliberative action. Humans have an
5
Matherne Samantha. Kant and the Art of Schematism. Kantian Review .2014 19 (2):181-
2015
6
Arruda, Caroline T., 2016, “Constitutivism and the Self-Reflection Requirement”,
are selected using the same process, the decision made after the process is what is differentiates
Bibliography
Christopher Jay. The Kantian Moral Hazard Argument for Religious Fictionalism.
2013, 39 (11):695-698.
Michael Garnet. Practical Reason and the Unity of Agency.Canadian Journal of Philosophy.
2011, 41 (3):449-468.
Samantha Matherne. Kant and the Art of Schematism. Kantian Review .2014 19 (2):181-
2015
Bagnoli, Carla. 2009, “The Mafioso Case: Autonomy and Self-Respect”, Ethical Theory and
Ana & Michael Ridge, 2011, “Function and Self-Constitution: How to make something of
yourself without being all that you can be. A commentary on Christine Korsgaard’s
doi:10.1093/analys/anq061 Blustein.
Jeffrey, 1991. Care and Commitment: Taking the Personal Point of ViewNew York: Oxford
University Press.
Calhoun, Cheshire, 1995. ‘Standing for Something,’ Journal of Philosophy, XCII: 235–260
(2010): 2-14.
Crowell, Steven. “Subjectivity: Locating the First- Person in Being and Time.” Inquiry44
(2001): 433–54.
Enoch, David, 2006, “Agency, Shmagency: Why Normativity Won’t Come from What is
doi:10.1215/00318108-2005-014
Irwin Terence, 2004, “Kantian Autonomy”, in Agency and Action, John Hyman & Helen
Korsgaard, Christine M. 2008, The Constitution of Agency: Essays on Practical Reason and
Korsagaard, C.M. The journal of Ethics (1999) 3: 1.Kluwer Academic Publishers .1382-
4554.
Press, 1996.
University Press (especially “Autonomy and Efficacy”) Van Hooft, Stan, 2001.
Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature, Book II, Part III, Section III, p. 413.