Kantian Ethics

Kantian Ethics

1. 'Good' used to describe 'good will' - to act purely in accordance with duty. We use our reason to work out out duty.

   • Duty is what makes good will good. Duty must be done for its own sake despite the benefit's, motives must be pure.
     • Kant came up with two kinds of imperatives as a way of knowing our duty.
       • Hypothetical (non moral)
         • Do not apply to everyone
         • Only to be followed to achieve a certain 'goal'
         • Always begins with the word 'if'.
         • Example: If I want to loose weight I ought to go on a diet.
       • Categorical (moral)
         • Moral command - applies to everyone.
         • Test to judge whether an action is in accordance with pure practical reason.
         • The Universal Law - must be able to make maxim universal without contradiction otherwise it would be against reason.
         • Humans as ends not means - humans should not be treated as things to achieve an end.
         • A kingdom of ends - a world where everyone is treated as ends not means. 'end' = free autonomous agent.

2. The three postulates of practical reason

   • God
     • If happiness is to be aligned with virtue then there must be some force or person which makes this happen (God).
   • Freedom
     • If we have an obligation, this implies responsibility; this implies human freedom.
   • Immorality
     • Happiness and virtueare not aligned in this life which implies that there is life after death where this does happen.
     • Summum bonum - state where happiness and virtue are united. Cannot be achieve in this life and so there must be a life after death where this is achieved.

3. Strengths

   • Straight forward, based on reason.
   • Clear criteria to asses what is moral
   • Categorical imperative - rules which apply to everyone and commands us to respect human life.
   • Kant makes it clear that morality is about doing ones duty and not feelings or inclinations which may follow
   • Aims to treat everyone fairly and equally - corrects utilitarian assumption that the minority can suffer so long the majority are happy.
   • Kant see's humans as intrinsic worth,, rational creatures. Therefore they cannot be enslaved or exploited. This is the basis of Human rights.

4. Weaknesses

   • Abstract - not always easily applied. Tells you what type of actions are good but not what to do in particular situations
   • Principle of universability can be used to justify practically anything - Alasdair Macintyre
   • Putting duty above feeling is cold. It can be difficult to serpate 'intentions' from 'duty'.
   • Thinking about the result of an action is an important part in ethical decision making. If outcome hurts another perosn people will feel guilty, it is difficult to ingore this.
   • Unforgiving theory - he believed in 'an eye for an eye;'. If everyone believed in this there would be a never ending need for revenge,
   • Only seems to work if we all have the same views on life.