Kant and Duty

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Who was Immanuel Kant? What is duty to Kant? How does Kant use duty as a the basis for Kantian Ethics
Laura Joyce
Flashcards by Laura Joyce, updated more than 1 year ago
Laura Joyce
Created by Laura Joyce about 4 years ago
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Question Answer
What is the definition of a priori? Knowledge independent from experience
What is Summun Bonum? The greatest good
What is good will? Following your duty
What does deontological mean? Decisions made by rules
What does Categorical mean? Something you ought to do
What does hypothetical mean? If you want X to happen then do Y
What is a maxim? A rule
Who was Immanuel Kant? A 19th century thinker who was part of the European Enlightenment. He rebelled against his Lutheran upbringing. He was a professor of Logic and Metaphysics and a creature of habit, the locals set their watches by the time of his daily walk
What was the European Englighenment? An attempt to over throw authority and superstition and to deal with the world based on human reason. Reason should lead not religion
What is Kant's key issue? Discovering key basis for one's duty and then devising a principle that determines what is right and wrong
What was Kant influenced? Science and empirical evidence The Copernican revolution: Earth moves around the Sun
What did the Copernican Revolution lead Kant to? Seeing that we do not know things as they actually are, we see things as they appear to us. This is because of the way that our senses function
What does causality cause us to do? Look for the cause when we feel something. Kant says it shapes our sensations so that we experience the world this way
What is causality to Kant? A part of the structure of the mind
What is the law of causality? An a priori law of the mind that shapes the way we experience what is around us
According to Kant, can we ever know what the world actually is? No because it is a phenomenon/appearance What appears to us could be different to what the world actually is
What did Kant say about moral choice? We all know what it means to have a moral obligation (something that we ought to do despite the consequences)
What did Kant say was possible using morality? Giving a systematic account of the moral duties we have and what they are founded upon (principles) This is based on reason so it is universal
Why is rationality important? Being a rational being is important because it makes up our intrinsic dignity. Our ability to reason is important.
What does Kant say reason is? An "innate and intellectual power existing more or less equally in all men, it enables the individual to resolve problems in a way, more or less acceptable to everyone"
Kant says that everyone's reason is basically the ____ Kant says that everyone's reason is basically the SAME
What helps us to determine the objective wrong and right? Moral reason. We know what is right by using our reasons, not relying on facts or an intuition
Why does Kant say that we should do the right thing? Simply because it is right, not because of our emotions or it meets our own desires
How is a moral maxim tested? By asking whether everyone should always follow it. If not, then the act should not be done
For Kant, moral judgements are not ________ or __________ For Kant, moral judgements are not RELATIVE or SUBJECTIVE
Is Kantian ethics criticised by modern deontology? Why or why not? Yes because it is too absolute However his theory is still influential
How is duty emphasised in Kantian ethics? We have a duty to act morally (follow the moral law) It is not acting out of compassion or natural tendency (inclination)
How does duty make Kantian ethics deontological? Kantian ethics is absolute because Kant says that we should do our duty, because it is our duty to do so
Why is Kantian ethics deontological? It starts with experience of a moral ought It inspects rational principles that determine what is moral or immoral (right or wrong)
What four things make it a deontological theory We should obey rules because they are good Sense of duty/Obligation Not dependent on consequences Looks at the nature of the act in itself
Kantian ethics starts with the phenomenon of ____ ____ and celebrates what can be achieved by using _____ ______ Kantian ethics starts with the phenomenon of GOOD WILL and celebrates what can be achieved using HUMAN REASON
For Kant, if i act morally what am I showing? I would be showing freedom or autonomy of will
Quote about Good will "It is impossible to conceive of anything in all the world which can be taken as good without qualification, expect a good will. Good will is like a jewel, it should shine by its own light, AS A THING WHICH HAS ITS OWN VALUE IN ITSELF
Criticism/counter argument There is not a sense of duty and people only act to achieve their own end result. They look after themselves as a basic instinct
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