Kantian Ethics

Kantian Ethics

The ideas from 17th century, to break ethics off from religion
1. Human reason in determining morality
2. Individual reason and autonomy
3. A sense of duty or obligation to act morally
Intro
1. Rejects empricism, and works on Apriori reasoning
2. Absolutist moral theory
3. Rejects happiness as a base for morality
4. Rejects subjective so creates an objective theory based on reason, not feelings
5. Kants walks reflect his theory, logical and coherent.
  1. Heteronomous will: Doesn't act freely of make decisions
    1. Autonomous: Acts freely and makes own decisions
Maxims and Moral laws
1. Maxim: A subjective moral principle
2. God created morals and we can uncover them through reason and maxims
3. Develop maxims into moral laws through good will
  1. Causality: If you get hurt you want to find the cause (Apriori law)
  2. Duty: Obligation to act morally
    1. Absolutist
    2. Deontological
    3. Adolf Eichman: Hung 1962
      1. Followed Kantian ethics
        can lead to fanaticism
      2. Went against Categorical imperative
    4. Extreme Duty:
      1. Done at cost to self
      2. Rejects happiness as basis of morality
    5. Taxonomy of duties: Allen W Wood
      1. Duties to oneself e.g. Against lust, no lying
      2. Duties to other e,g, Love by beneficence
Categorical Imperative
1. 1> Universality
  1. Follow maxims that can be universalised
2. 2> Treat humans as ends not means to an end
  1. Do not exploit humans
3. 3> The kingdom of ends
  1. Social harmony
  2. Where everyone has common ideas of morality
4. HYPOTHETICAL IMPERATIVE
  1. Moral commands
  2. Conditional to personal motives and desires
  3. Intention
  4. Copernian revolution
    1. we see the world through our senses
    2. The world as we see it
    3. Only know things as they appear to us
5. what we ought to do
Summum Bonum: The highest Good
1. Postulate Gods existence
2. Must be life after death
3. Only God can bring harmony to society
Strengths:
1. Emphasis on human worth
2. Human equality and harmony is central
3. Duty fits with human experience
Weaknesses:
1. No place for love
2. Compatibalism
3. Consequences are ignored
4. Do apriori moral laws actually exist?

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