1. You should try to re-read some of the Kant material, given what was said in lecture. Usually when one reads it again, with a little help, it begins to mean more. You can make a note of things that seem important to you that you'd like to talk about in discussion.
2. In addition to reading Kant, try your hand at the following exercise. Print this out and bring your answers with you to class to share and to talk over. The intent is for you to get a good sense of the basic focus found in Kant, and how it is different from the focus of the ancient Greeks like Aristotle. To do this exercise, mark each of the phrases below with either a "K" or an "A", in order to indicate whether it sounds like the sort of thing Kant is talking about, or the sort of thing that is of major concern to Aristotle. Give some thought to each one--don't just mark them randomly in order to get done quickly. If you put some thought into it, you should notice a pattern emerging, and that pattern is really important in understanding Kant. There are a few phrases that could be marked with both a "K" and an "A".
living a truly excellent life
doing the morally right thing
keeping desires under rational control
doing one's moral duty
avoiding excesses
fulfilling one's human nature
becoming worthy of being happy
moral obligation
human well-being
principles of moral right and wrong
acting on the basis of principle
developing a good character
deciding what is best to do by applying proper habits of thought to present circumstances
the moral value of an action
Your motives determine whether you get moral credit for doing something that is right.
3. From the things said in lecture, plus some parts of the reading for the week, you might be able to come up with an answer to these two interesting questions about Kant's views:
a) What is the determining factor according to Kant's theory that makes some action morally right or morally wrong?
b) What is the determining factor according to Kant's theory that makes someone deserve moral credit for doing something that is morally right?
(Hint: The answers to these two questions are different.)