Kantian Ethics
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- Created on: 05-12-16 16:06
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- Kantian Ethics
- What is Kantian ethics?
- Kant said that we should act from duty- our motives are ireleant to ethics.
- Emotion clouds our judgement which results in selfish actions.
- Our emotions are unreliable and chnage day to day. Morality needs to be universal, which contain moral truths which can be applied universally - therefore we must follow our duty rather than emotions.
- It emphasises reason and says that morality is derived from rationaliy.
- The Summum Bonum
- Kant argues it would be irrational to be moral if everyone else was immoral and the were no justice therefore justice must be available to those who act through duty.
- Summum bonum means highest happiness. The reward for summum bonum is awarded to those who freely act in accordance with their moral duty.
- There are 3 postulates of morality : God, freedom and immortality.
- The Hypothetical Imperative
- Hypotheitcal imperative tells you what to do in order to achieve a particular goal.
- It can only be applied to people who want to achieve a goal.
- The Categorical imperative
- Intrinsic vs Instrumental worth
- Maxims and the 3 formulations of the categorical imperative
- Categorical imperative first formulation - Act only on that maxim
through which you can at the same time will that it should become
universal law
- The thing that you are willing must be rational and possible.
- Categorical imperative second formulation - Act in such a way that you
always treat humanity,never simply as means but always at the same time
as an end.
- Kingdom of ends - act as if you are a legislative meber of a kingdom of ends. You may be tempted to create maxims for specific situations.
- Categorial imperative third formulation - Every rational being must so
act if he were through his maxims always a law- making meber in the
universal kingdom of ends
- Ends, not means - treat others as ends in themsleves. You must not treat people as a menas to an end but to a end on themselves.
- Categorical imperative first formulation - Act only on that maxim
through which you can at the same time will that it should become
universal law
- Freedom or Autonomy ( self- government)
- Freedom is of great importance in Kant's theory as we must have the freedom to act rationally in order for us to do the right thing.
- Strengths
- Human beings are morally autonomous - authors of their morality
- provides a deontological structure which enables the individual to decide for themselves the specific moral content.
- Kant values intrinsic human goods
- Reliable - A system of rules works, and everyone knows what their obligations are. If you allowed people to break rules because of consequences, or out of love, the legal system would be a mess, and no-one would know what they ought to do.
- Evaluation points
- Kant places emphasise on the role of reason in his theory. Futhermore, nowadays all the emphasis seems to be on what can be established through science or evidence. Kant's ideas about the rationality of humans are optimistic but not unrealistic.
- Many regard the 21st century as a secular age. He would argue that the categorical imperative is useful for those who reject authority of the Bible or religiious teachings. However it can also be used in conjunction with religion as it mirrors the golden rule from christianity.
- What is Kantian ethics?
- Tells us what to do irrespective of our desires.
- The Categorical imperative
- Duty and Inclination
- Morality consists of categorical rather than hypothetical imperatives.
- Kantian Ethics
- What is Kantian ethics?
- Kant said that we should act from duty- our motives are ireleant to ethics.
- Emotion clouds our judgement which results in selfish actions.
- Our emotions are unreliable and chnage day to day. Morality needs to be universal, which contain moral truths which can be applied universally - therefore we must follow our duty rather than emotions.
- It emphasises reason and says that morality is derived from rationaliy.
- The Summum Bonum
- Kant argues it would be irrational to be moral if everyone else was immoral and the were no justice therefore justice must be available to those who act through duty.
- Summum bonum means highest happiness. The reward for summum bonum is awarded to those who freely act in accordance with their moral duty.
- There are 3 postulates of morality : God, freedom and immortality.
- The Hypothetical Imperative
- Hypotheitcal imperative tells you what to do in order to achieve a particular goal.
- It can only be applied to people who want to achieve a goal.
- Intrinsic vs Instrumental worth
- Maxims and the 3 formulations of the categorical imperative
- Categorical imperative first formulation - Act only on that maxim
through which you can at the same time will that it should become
universal law
- The thing that you are willing must be rational and possible.
- Categorical imperative second formulation - Act in such a way that you
always treat humanity,never simply as means but always at the same time
as an end.
- Kingdom of ends - act as if you are a legislative meber of a kingdom of ends. You may be tempted to create maxims for specific situations.
- Categorial imperative third formulation - Every rational being must so
act if he were through his maxims always a law- making meber in the
universal kingdom of ends
- Ends, not means - treat others as ends in themsleves. You must not treat people as a menas to an end but to a end on themselves.
- Categorical imperative first formulation - Act only on that maxim
through which you can at the same time will that it should become
universal law
- Freedom or Autonomy ( self- government)
- Freedom is of great importance in Kant's theory as we must have the freedom to act rationally in order for us to do the right thing.
- Strengths
- Human beings are morally autonomous - authors of their morality
- provides a deontological structure which enables the individual to decide for themselves the specific moral content.
- Kant values intrinsic human goods
- Reliable - A system of rules works, and everyone knows what their obligations are. If you allowed people to break rules because of consequences, or out of love, the legal system would be a mess, and no-one would know what they ought to do.
- Evaluation points
- Kant places emphasise on the role of reason in his theory. Futhermore, nowadays all the emphasis seems to be on what can be established through science or evidence. Kant's ideas about the rationality of humans are optimistic but not unrealistic.
- Many regard the 21st century as a secular age. He would argue that the categorical imperative is useful for those who reject authority of the Bible or religiious teachings. However it can also be used in conjunction with religion as it mirrors the golden rule from christianity.
- What is Kantian ethics?
- The moral law does not prescribe moral action in order to achive some end. This means we should obey the moral law no matter what our desires or inclinations are telling us.
- All humans have their own worth and intrinsic value.
- Your intrinsic worth holds all in given situations.
- Kant asks us to follow maxims as if they were universal rules, but just because we act this way, it doesn’t mean others will. For example, pacifism makes sense as a lawof nature, but if we chose to be pacifist, we would be a sitting duck for any non-Kantians.
- Weaknesses
- Acting out of a sense of ‘duty for duty’s sake’ is cold and impersonal
- Universal rules aren’t helpful in the real world where every situation is different.If no two situations are the same, morality should be relativist not absolutist.
- Weaknesses
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