THE KANTIAN THEORY OF DUTY: THE ARCHEOLOGY OF A MORAL LANDSCAPE

This work aims to synthesize knowledge extracted from authors of different traditions of the history of philosophy about the conditions of formation of the Kantian moral landscape with an archaeological method, focused on the historical- philosophical construction of the Kantian notion of duty. The works of Villey and Agamben on the subject were adopted as basic works, as well as fields were delimited, autonomous in relation to whole of Kantian thought, to be approached from the perspective of the initial premise (such as: technics as a paradigm of modernity and the impact of nominalism, protestantism and neoestoicism on Kant). The parts which bore a more "philosophical" character are deeply indebted to Agamben's propositions and sociological observations based on Max Weber's work on intramundane protestant ethics were incorporated to give the reader a more clear view on the subjects. The conclusion, following the studies adopted as conceptual basis, points to the consolidation, in the Kantian work, of a process of alteration of the Weltanschauung of the philosophical intelligentsia in the West, with severe repercussion in the life of the inhabitants of this hemisphere. Considering this conclusion, it is necessary to rethink the notion of duty both in its legal and psychological implications.