R - KANTIAN ETHICS

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  • Created by: mkimani
  • Created on: 04-09-18 19:30

What: BACKGROUND?

  • Rationalism - based on reason/logic so not clouded by emotion / sensory experience
  • Deonotolifcal - based on intention as opposed to the outcome
  • Absolutist - the command to do one's duty is invariable - not doing one's duty is always absolutely wrong
  • Believed in objective right and wrong based on reason - do what is right because it is right and not because it fulfils our desires / is based on feelings
  • To test a moral maxim, we must see whether it can and should always be followed by everyone - if not we must reject it
  • Copernican revolution - Kant argued that various structures or categories of thought were pre-built into the structure of our minds - suggests that all we can really know about our own experiences and perceptions which may not correspond with ultimate reality). Calls it the Cop. Rev. because he believes this view's implications for humanity are equally as important as the implications of discovering the solar system revolves around the sun

GOODWILL AND DUTY?

  • 'Duty is what you ought to do' - Kant
  • Duty - what we ought to / have a moral obligation to do. We have free will to follow our duty and can work out our duty using reason. e.g. Kant would say since lying is wrong we would have to tell a murderer where his victim is
  • Kant argued that our duties were rooted in rationality / were unconditional or categorical / completely unchanging and presupposed freedom
  • 'Goodwill' is the only thing that counts
  • We are not moral for the sake of love but for duty's sake only. Doing duty for any other reason does not count.

HYPOTHETICAL IMPERATIVE 

  • Imperatives are instructions. Hypothetical imperatives tell you what to do in order to achieve a particular goal e.g. ' if you want to stay out of prison, don't steal cars'. These imperatives only apply to people who want to achieve the goal.
  • Kant disagrees with this type of morality. He believed that our morality shouldn't be based on goals and rather should consist of categorical imperatives.
  • Primarily MOTIVATED BY A DESIRE TO MEET SPECIFIC PURPOSES

THREE CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVES

  • Kant holds that the fundamental principle of our moral duties is a categorical imperative 
  • Categorical imperatives, unlike hypothetical, tell us what do irrespective of our desires e.g. We should not steal cars regardless
  • Applies to…

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