Moby Dick Rhetorical Analysis

In Chapter 73, “Stubb and Flask Kill a Right Whale” of Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick”, Captain Ahab decides that he wants to catch and kill a Right Whale. He believes that if you have a Right Whale head and a Sperm Whale head dragging of the back of the ship, then good luck will come. In this chapter, Ahab reveals more of his desperation to kill Moby Dick. Ahab feels like he has to kill Moby Dick in order to put his soul at peace. This is where philosopher Immanuel Kant plays in. Kant believes that knowledge is innate, but also is gained through experience. He also believes a person is good or bad based on their motivation and reasoning for action. Kant does not believe that actions make someone a good person, but their devotion to morality
A categorical imperative is an unconditional command, where a hypothetical imperative is a self-command or a goal that is set, driven off of desire within oneself. This applies to both Ishmael and Ahab, but especially Ahab. Immanuel Kant would be understanding of Ahab’s motivation to kill Moby Dick, and would say that his vengeance has valid reason, but that doesn’t necessarily make him a good person. Ahab does not have much devotion to morality, his devotion is to Moby Dick. Although his motivation is valid, the steps which he took to get to Moby Dick were not completely moral. Although everyone on the ship would have benefited from Killing Moby Dick, financially or emotionally, you could argue that Ahab is selfish and is using his crew to help get what he wants, because he clearly wants Moby Dick more than anyone else. If Stubb was to call someone the devil, it should have been Moby Dick. The infamous whale is the one that is truly controlling Ahab’s conscience. He has driven Ahab to the point where he would put his entire crew’s life on the line simply to gain pleasure from killing him. Kant believes that suicide is selfish and immoral. Ahab was very aware of the danger Moby Dick poses to him, and he was willing to risk his life going after him, it was basically suicide. Kant would see Ahab as a bad person, with potential to become
He believed that all ideas come from sensation and reflection. By sensation, he means through the five senses. An example of this would be when Moby Dick took Ahab’s leg from him, the pain he felt most definitely triggered something deep inside of him that caused him to be unconditionally motivated to seek revenge. That is where he got the idea to pursue the whale once again. An example of an idea from reflection was when maybe Ahab started to doubt the luck of the Pequod and of Finding Moby Dick, and then is when he ordered for the right whale to be killed. Any philosopher’s views are applicable somewhere in “Moby Dick” but Kant felt like the most applicable one of them all. Ahab’s internal struggle slowly becomes more apparent throughout the book, the amount of desperation rises. He feels obliged to kill