radical evil: kant's explanation of intention and awareness in immoral action

Evil is divided into two main categories: natural evil and moral evil. natural evil refers to suffering and pain that humans do not have a role in causing, but that result in a kind of non-existence (such as death, disease, etc.). in contrast, moral evil is suffering and pain that is caused by humans intentionally. kant does not believe in natural evil. natural events, although they lead to non-existence and suffering, he does not consider them evil. he does not even consider natural inclinations to be the source of evil. if he does not consider evil to be the result of natural activities or even the result of the natural aspect of man, then the source of evil must be sought elsewhere, namely in the aspect that distinguishes human actions from nature, which is their voluntary nature. this is what makes these actions worthy of praise or blame. a human action that is in harmony with reason and moral law is a moral action. whereas an action that is contrary to these two is morally wrong, which kant calls radical evil. the main question of this paper is whether humans knowingly and intentionally engage in immoral acts. in other words, do they engage in an act that they know is morally wrong and bad? to answer this question, it is necessary to answer more preliminary questions: what is the main characteristic of a voluntary action? what human talents and inclinations are there that form the subjective basis of voluntary action? finally, how is the choice of a morally wrong action made? with these preliminaries, we are in a position to answer the main question of the paper: does a person knowingly engage in an act that he knows is wrong? if the answer is yes, then man possesses a demonic evil that kant does not accept. if the answer is no, then how is it possible that the action in question should on the one hand have the character of a voluntary action and on the other hand that the moral agent should not be aware of the wrongness of the action? how humans can knowingly engage in morally wrong actions without considering those actions to be morally wrong themselves? this apparent contradiction lies at the heart of kant s concept of radical evil, which he explores in his work religion within the limits of reason alone