การวิเคราะห์แนวคิดความกตัญญูต่อบิดามารดาในปรัชญาจริยศาสตร์ ของอิมมานูเอล คานท์ [Philosophical Analysis of Kant’s Concept of Filial Gratitude]

Gratitude occupies a prominent place in moral discourse across cultures, and it is particularly elevated in discussions of filial obligation. In many contexts, gratitude toward parents is treated as a powerful normative expectation, often assumed rather than examined. Yet despite its widespread moral endorsement, the conceptual structure and normative limits of gratitude remain philosophically contested. This study revisits the concept of gratitude and filial gratitude within the framework of Immanuel Kant’s moral philosophy, asking how gratitude is structured and what normative status it holds in a system grounded in practical reason, autonomy, and the dignity of persons as ends in themselves. Employing conceptual philosophical analysis, the research examines Kant’s primary texts in dialogue with relevant secondary scholarship. The study argues that gratitude in Kant’s system is not a mere feeling or social convention but an imperfect duty of virtue grounded in the recognition of freely given beneficence. Although gratitude reflects an asymmetry of merit between benefactor and beneficiary, this asymmetry does not generate an enforceable claim nor undermine the moral equality of persons. In the case of filial gratitude, the parent–child relationship may be factually asymmetrical, yet the corresponding duty remains confined to the domain of virtue rather than right. The research thus offers a structural reading that preserves both asymmetry of merit and equality of moral status within Kant’s moral framework.