The Thorn in Kant’s Side: J.A.H. Ulrich on the Possibility of Free Immoral Action

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate Ulrich’s impact on Kant and the immediate reception of Kant’s account of freedom. I argue that Ulrich’s critical inquiry into grounding and free will influenced Kant’s treatment of the subjective ground of the exercise of freedom in the Religion Within the Boundaries of Mere Reason. I analyze Ulrich’s critique in relation to Kant’s understanding of freedom as a kind of causality, exploring the connection between grounding and the subjective ground of freedom’s exercise. I argue further that Ulrich shaped the subsequent debate on the scope of free will and the possibility of free immoral action by inciting the 1790s debate on moral imputation.