state of appraisal in deciding when to apply the moral law. Whenever a
situation occurs, regardless of its moral content, it is judged reflectively
since the universal principle is not applied to everything automatically,
otherwise the power of judgment would be superfluous. The question
then becomes, does the reflective judgment have the ability to recognise
morally salient features of a situation appropriately?
To answer this question, it is necessary to examine more deeply
how reflective judgment works in its appraisal of situations. When we
reflectively judge a situation, we compare or combine it with ‘either
other presentations or one’s cognitive power [itself], in reference to a
concept that this [comparison] makes possible’ (Kant, 1987, p.400).
In other words, we can compare a situation to others to see if there
are similarities with our previous experiences. This corresponds quite
well with Kant’s previous comment on the power of judgment being
sharpened by experience. This does not offer a clear-cut procedure on
how to see if a situation’s features are moral ones, but it does offer some
strategies that can guide our judgment in selecting appropriate features
(O’Neill, 1989, p.182).
One strategy is to follow certain reflective maxims, ‘maxims of the
judgment’ (Kant, 1914, p.24) . These are general maxims that structure
how we investigate all situations, moral, scientific or otherwise, such as
‘nature takes the shortest path’ (O’Neill, 1989, p.182). They are ways
of regulating our investigation of actual situations we find ourselves
in. Another strategy is to try to find the coherence of our experience
with our previous experiences and that of other agents (O’Neill, 1989,
p.182). This means that reflective judgment is able to draw on the agents
experience in identifying moral features and compare the standpoint with
other agents in an empathising capacity.
Through these strategies the reflective judgment is able to identify
accurately morally salient features in a given situation, by invoking
certain general maxims that provide a structure for what to look for and
offering comparisons from previous experience. This reflective judgment
need not be a conscious effort, the proponents of moral perception are
right in that normally most people react automatically to morally salient
features. However, in our case, it is quite natural to assume that if
someone were in a moral situation, and they had been in one similar
previously, then quite unconsciously they would be reminded of their
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