acting in accordance with duty and acting out of duty Flashcards
Acting out of from / because of duty.
What the person does is what duty command that they do, and they have carried over tis action because they have recognised this as their duty.
Agent acting on a categorial imperative eg I should keep my prices honest. Acting accordance with duty= no moral worth acting out of duty= moral worth
Acting merely in accordance with duty.
What the person does is what duty command that they do but they have not carried out this action because they have recognised this as their duty. They have rather performed the action for some other issues.
Agent acts on a hypothetical imperative eg I should keep my price honest of wish to maintain customer loyalty
Acting in accordance with duty vs acting out of duty
- You can do the right thing- act in accordance with duty
- But you have the wrong motive then the act has no moral worth.
example- shopkeeper who does not rip customers off because he wants a good reputation.
- For Kant, his actions are not moral.
Not ripping off customers is the right thing to do, so he’s acting in accordance with moral duty.
But he isn’t doing it out of a sense of duty for the moral law but for his reputation.
His act has no moral worth.
example pt2- In contrast, a poor shopkeeper who’s struggling to make ends meet
This shopkeeper understands that being honest is the right things to do and doesn’t rip off his customers for this reason, his act is carried out by a sense of duty= has moral worth.
- Sometimes you can be motivated by both the sense of duty and another goal. Can make the motive of duty less clear but as long as you’re motivated by duty then the act is a good act.
From maxims to moral law.
- There are universal moral laws created by god yet rejects the divine command theory as a basis for knowing these laws.
- We discover moral laws
- Starts with a series of maxims.
what is a Maxim
a moral principle subjective in origin which demands practical applicants- rules/ commands that is expressed in a sentence dummy <3
- Subjective moral principles that can be deduced by all rational human beings.
example- lying
Eg. Lying is wrong.
Kant argue that through trust these basic principles can be developed into moral laws to govern society
eg laws such as libel or slander are developed from the maxim that lying is wrong.
what centres kants theory?
- To develop these laws, there must be good will between human beings, each must live their life with a sensed of trust and good will to others.
- Trust and good will are central to Kant belief that human beings have the ability to turn subjectively based ethical maxims into moral laws.
what makes a moral action?
Duty for duty’s sake- good will + duty = moral action
