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Mind Map by alveekhan06, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by alveekhan06
about 11 years ago
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Immanuel Kant's Moral Argument
- Kant believed that we all have an innate sense of moral awareness and an obligation to be virtuous; i.e. human's
ought to be moral and do their duty.
- Kant believed, the good will is the only thing that can be taken as good without qualification. Duty is what
makes the good will good. For something to be moral we must do it for its own sake, regardless of
consequences. E.g. if giving to charity out of love for others, it does not necessarily mean I am being moral. I
need to give to charity because duty commands it.
- Kant makes the distinction between two kind of imperatives, in an attempt to show us that
we can know our duty through practical reason. Hypothetical Imperative- If i do X i will get
Y; the hypothetical imperative depends on the results.
- The categorical imperatives are moral commands; they tell us what to do and do not depend on anything. There
are three basic forms of the categorical imperative and these are a test as to whether action is being done out of
duty and pure practical reason. The first is to check whether your action can become a universal law. Kant uses
the example of promise-keeping. If i break a promise that I made and universalise this action, then the end result
will be that there is no point in anyone making promises. This is inconsistent and thus cannot be a moral
imperative. His second formulation is that we should not treat people as a means to an end. By this he means that
we should not exploit others or treat them as things to achieve a result, because they are as rational as we are. His
third formulation of the categorical imperative is the formula of a kingdom of ends. Everyone should not treat others
as means but as an "end"; i.e. we should treat others as free, autonomous agents.
- The categorical imperatives are moral commands; they tell us what to do and do not depend on anything. There
are three basic forms of the categorical imperative and these are a test as to whether action is being done out of
duty and pure practical reason. The first is to check whether your action can become a universal law. Kant uses
the example of promise-keeping. If i break a promise that I made and universalise this action, then the end result
will be that there is no point in anyone making promises. This is inconsistent and thus cannot be a moral
imperative. His second formulation is that we should not treat people as a means to an end. By this he means that
we should not exploit others or treat them as things to achieve a result, because they are as rational as we are. His
third formulation of the categorical imperative is the formula of a kingdom of ends. Everyone should not treat others
as means but as an "end"; i.e. we should treat others as free, autonomous agents.
- Kant makes the distinction between two kind of imperatives, in an attempt to show us that
we can know our duty through practical reason. Hypothetical Imperative- If i do X i will get
Y; the hypothetical imperative depends on the results.
- Kant believed, the good will is the only thing that can be taken as good without qualification. Duty is what
makes the good will good. For something to be moral we must do it for its own sake, regardless of
consequences. E.g. if giving to charity out of love for others, it does not necessarily mean I am being moral. I
need to give to charity because duty commands it.
- Humans ought to be moral
but an average level of virtue is not enough, we must strive to achieve the highest good. "Ought implies can"; we would not have
a sense of duty if it was not achievable (because the universe is fair). If the universe is fair as Kant assumed then true virtue should be
rewarded with happiness. Although we can achieve virtue in our life time, there is no guarantee that we will be rewarded with
happiness. E.g. A thief may find happiness through the money he has stole, but a moral person may not be happy even though
he has acted morally. As the universe does not seem to be fair in our life time, Kant postulated the existence of an after life.
- The after life is where Kant believed that moral people would be rewarded, through the achievement of the Summum Bonum. The Summum
Bonum is the highest good and represents the coming together of virtue and happiness. God is what allows us to achieve the highest good as he
is the guarantor of justice and awards the Summum Bonum.. Kant is essentially claiming that if you hold the view that the universe is fair and
the summum bonum is achievable, then it is necessary to postulate God and life after death.
- The after life is where Kant believed that moral people would be rewarded, through the achievement of the Summum Bonum. The Summum
Bonum is the highest good and represents the coming together of virtue and happiness. God is what allows us to achieve the highest good as he
is the guarantor of justice and awards the Summum Bonum.. Kant is essentially claiming that if you hold the view that the universe is fair and
the summum bonum is achievable, then it is necessary to postulate God and life after death.
- Kant distinguished between the Phenomenal and Noumenal world. He believed the
Phenomenal world to be the world as we experience it or as it appears to us. The Noumenal
world is the actual world, independent of our experience. He thought that the world as we see it
is spatio- tempora and also believed that knowing what the world is really like (independent of
our experience) is impossible. This is important because Kant believed God to belong to the
noumenal world. Thus, for Kant there was no way of arguing God's existence based on the
phenomenal world.
- Before looking at Kant's argument in detail we must understand that he came up with three "postulates of practical
reason"; of which his ideas are closely connected. These are God, freedom and life after death. Kant did not put
forward a traditional argument for the existence of God but thought that God was a postulate of practical reason. He
assumed that the universe is fair and that the highest good was achievable. If you follow Kant's assumptions then it
becomes necessary to assume there is a God
- Before looking at Kant's argument in detail we must understand that he came up with three "postulates of practical
reason"; of which his ideas are closely connected. These are God, freedom and life after death. Kant did not put
forward a traditional argument for the existence of God but thought that God was a postulate of practical reason. He
assumed that the universe is fair and that the highest good was achievable. If you follow Kant's assumptions then it
becomes necessary to assume there is a God
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