Kantian Ethics

The Moral Philosophy of Immanuel Kant

The Ethics of Duty and Reason

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

German philosopher Concerned with duty and reason Believed that the intentions behind an

action were more important than the consequences.

We cannot predict the consequences so we cannot judge a person good or bad based on the consequences of their actions.

A Deontological Theory Deon = duty (Greek). A theory based on our duty or our

obligation to do something. This is an approach to ethics that

focuses on the rightness or wrongness of actions themselves, as opposed to the rightness or wrongness of the consequences of those actions

Good will All good moral acts must be

grounded in good will. Good will indicates that the act was

carried out with the best of intentions.

Good will indicates a good action not because ultimately the consequences are good but because the intention is good in itself.

Reason

Good Will can only result from the proper use of reason

We must eliminate our own desires and needs from the decision and make it in everyone’s best interests

Do not follow gut instincts, they undermine rational thinking.

Duty

A moral person is one who acts from a sense of duty and not from what we personally would like to do.

Acting morally amounts to doing our duty regardless of what consequences may follow, even for ourselves.

The Categorical Imperative This is a method based on practical reasoning. An imperative is an instruction or rule we can

work out using our reason A hypothetical imperative or instruction would

compel action in a given circumstance: If I wish to satisfy my thirst, then I must drink something.

A categorical imperative would suggest an absolute, unconditional requirement that exerts its authority in all circumstances.

It is best known in its first formulation: "Act only according to that maxim (rule) whereby

you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law."

Universalisability This is another word for the categorical

Imperative. It means that we should analyse our

choice and ask would it still be a good act if every person on earth were to do it.

It is an a priori argument, meaning that you do not have to experience the action to understand it.

The Main ImperativesKant's three significant formulations of the categorical

imperative are: Act only according to that maxim by which you can also

will that it would become a universal law. Act in such a way that you always treat humanity,

whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end.

Act as though you were, through your maxims, a law-making member of a kingdom of ends.

We must also respect all others and see people as the purpose of actions not as a means of achieving something.