Kantian Ethics

Kantian Ethics

1. Objective Right and Wrong based on Reason.

   • We Should do the right thing because it is right and not because it fulfils our desires based on feelings.
   • The right takes precedence over the Good.

2. Deontological and absolutist

   • Disregards concequences
   • Objective moral law that it is our duty to follow

3. Immanuel Kant - 1724-1804

   • Noumenal Realm: Gods/Angles
     • Humans experience rationality (noumenal) + Desires (phenomenal)
       • In order to act morally we must ignore our desires and act RATIONALLY
   • Phenonemal: Animals - Feeling/inclinations

4. Kant's Moral Theory

   • To act morally, you must be able to exercise FREEDOM or Autonomy of the Will
   • Good Will
     • Only 'will' (e.g. our self-will) can be unconditionally good and exercise pure Practical Reason.
     • Abilities, talents, virtues and consequences count for nothing as we cannot control them
   • Moral truths are A PRIORI SYNTHETIC
     • You can know something without experiencing it, but experiencing it will consolidate it.
     • Synthetic A priori truths include all moral rules. You can’t prove that it’s wrong to lie by observing what happens when people lie. However, Kant says that if lying were right, it would make talking pointless. The fact that we can communicate meaningfully means that lying must be wrong ‘a priori’.
   • An "ought implies a can"
   • "morals is not properly the doctrine of how we are to make ourselves happy but of how we are to become worthy of happiness"

5. Duty

   • Duty must be done for Duties sake only, not from whether you or others benefit from the action
     • Actions motives must be pure (practical reason)
     • Doing your duty for any other reason - inclinations, self-interest, affection - doesn't count
     • You do something because of its internal worth and not because of consequences
     • Happiness should not be the foundation for acting morally
       • "Good" and "Right" are not the same thing.
   • "we are not moral for the sake of love, but for duty's sake only"

6. Hypothetical Imperative

   • An action done to reach a desire
     • E.G. "I want to go to university, therefore I must get good grades"

7. Categorical l Imperative

   • Three formulations
     • Treat people as and ENDS not a MEANS
       • You can't use people to get what you want
     • MAXIMISATION
       • It can only be part of your duty if it can be applied to everyone alll around the world.
     • Act as if you were a member of the KINGDOM OF ENDS
       • Kingdom of ends = a society of rational beings, each of whom are treated as and 'end' - a free autonomous agent

8. The Three Postulates of Practical Reason

   • Freedom
     • If you couldn’t act freely, you wouldn’t have a sense that you ought to do certain actions - which we do
       • You cannot achieve the good in this lifetime, so there must be an afterlife
   • Immortality
     • SUMMUM BONUM cannot be achieved in this life therefore there must be an after life.
       • You cannot achieve the good in this lifetime, so there must be an afterlife
   • God
     • Based on MORAL proof, not THEOLOGICAL proof.
     • There must be a God and an afterlife because there has to be some sort of reward for acting morally.
       • Accepting that something is a right action presumes that the world is designed so that doing right leads to happiness, so there must be a God.
         • You cannot achieve the good in this lifetime, so there must be an afterlife
     • There is an ideal state where the reward for acting morally (happiness) is united with virtue
       • This is SUMMUM BONUM.
         • Ultimate happiness achieve through fulfilling ones duty,
         • the singular and overriding end which human beings ought to pursue
         • "the highest good"

9. Weaknesses

   • It's abstract and isn't easily applied to moral situations
   • Unrealistic as people rarely act from practical reason or from duty's sense only
   • The outcome is important too, not just the action or motive.
   • Doesn't clarify the difference between duties and what to do if they conflict
   • impractical

10. Strengths

    • Straightforward and based on reason
    • Clear to access morality
    • Moral value comes from action its self.
    • Can apply to everyone
    • Aims to treat everyone fairly
    • Humans have intrinsic worth and dignity.