Kant Ethics Flashcards
1
Q
Summary
A
- it deontological: concerned with actions and whether it is right or wrong and not the outcomes/consequences
- its absolutist: it treats every situation equally, either right or wrong
- categorical imperative: helps us to know which action are obligatory and which are forbidden
- intrinsically good: something that is good in itself
2
Q
Maxim
A
another word for moral rules, determined by reason
3
Q
Introduction
KANT (1724)
A
- Kant believed that moral knowledge was known through reason, not experience and its synthetic. (Priori)
- For Kant, good people always follow the moral law they do this because they have a good will and do their duty.
- To him, moral law is something we must categorically follow. Universal maxims- fixed rules that must always apply
- Humans are free to pursue the summun bonum
4
Q
key questions when looking at this unit:
A
- should emotion or reason guide moral choice?
- are moral rules universal?
- do people have intrinsic worth?
5
Q
Kant’s attempt to base morality on reason
A
- Kant was part of the European enlightenment movement. An important goal Kant shared with other enlightenment thinkers was to bring religion and ethics within the boundary of reason, not of faith.
- If ethics could be based on reason, Kant conceived that a harmonious society of rationality would be established
6
Q
The summum bonum
A
- HUMANS ARE FREE TO PURSUE THE SUMMUM BONUM - the place where our happiness and our virtue (good actions through doing our duty) come together.
- Kant rejects empirical evidence - as it can be flawed
- however, he focused rather on reason and logic instead
- we know what is right/ wrong not by relying on our intuitions or facts about the world, but by using reason and logic
- Kant’s theory is deontological because it is based on duty (to act morally is to do ones duty and obey the moral laws.)
7
Q
ABOUT KANT (1724)
A
- Wrote many works including, GROUNDWORK OF METAPHYSICS OF MORALS (1785), CRITIQUE OF PRACTICAL REASON, CRITIQUES OF PURE REASONS
- highly influential German philosopher
- Lived during the peak of the enlightenment era
8
Q
THE ENLIGHTENMENT ERA & WHY ITS IMPORTANT
CONTEXT:A03
A
- Politics/ science were reoriented during the course of the 18th century
- also known as the age of reason was an intellectual and cultural movement in the eighteenth century that emphasized reason over superstition and science over blind faith.
- PEOPLE WERE MORE AWARE OF THINKING
- allow humans to revolt and gain more freedom (challenges authority)
9
Q
Duty & The Good Will
A
- For Kant, a Good will is one which has the right intention when performing moral actions.
- Our duty is ‘To do good to others,… it’s our duty’ - Kant
- We should leave out personal feelings/desires and just do ‘duty for duty’s sake’.
- For example, if it is our duty to give money to charity, we should do it because it is our duty, not because we want to or because we feel empathy.
Kant establishes specific duties:
- to strive for self-perfection/the wellbeing of others
- to pursue the greater good - duty not to make false promises, as truthfulness is the foundation of human society.
10
Q
MAXIM: Categorical imperative
How we perceive the moral law?
1st formulation: universaility
A
- something you must always do = no matter the situation
- universal laws that rational beings should follow.
- ‘Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law’ = Our moral behaviour must be consistent throughout our life
- He uses the example of lying. Kant thinks lying cannot be universalised because if everyone were to lie, there would be no such thing as truth anymore.
- Shows that it is not universalisable and any act that is not universalised is self-defeating = therefore it is our duty to not do the wrong thing
11
Q
summary of categorical imperative
A
Kants states there 1 categorical imperatives , with 3 formulations:
1. Only act in a way that you will to be universal
2. never treat human beings as a means to an end
3. Always act as if you are a member of the kingodm of ends
- An action must pass these formulations to be good, but it must also be done with the right intention.
- These formulations allow you to figure out what your duty – “duty for duty’s sake” – out of respect for the moral law.
- Doing your duty because of your personal feelings is not morality = That would be engaging in a hypothetical imperative – doing your duty if you feel like it.
12
Q
MAXIM: Categorical imperative
2nd. formulation
HUMANITY
A
- Kant says: ’Always treat humanity and the ends of itself never merely as a means.’
- Don’t use people. Everyone has their own end (goals) in life so if you treat them as if they are only a means to your end then you are failing to acknowledge that they have their own end, which disregards their intrinsic value and freedom.
- Examples of such disregard include marital abuse, human trafficking, and financial exploitation.
- Kant’s ethics, emphasising universal rules and the supremacy of human life, influenced Catholic moral thought, particularly evident in the writings of Karol Wojtyla (later Pope John Paul II).
- Wojtyla’s concept of dignity aligns with Kantian principles, emphasising that using a person as a means to an end violates their natural rights and dignity.
13
Q
MAXIM: 3rd formulation: Kingdom of end
categorical imperative
A
- not a test like the first 2 but a reminder to always act on the moral law.
- In a world often perceived as selfish and disregard others, Kant’s prohibits adopting rules based on universal selfishness.
- Kant emphasises the inherent worth and dignity of each individual as rational beings capable of moral reasoning.
- He rejects the notion of adopting moral rules that everyone should act selfishly, as it contradicts the idea of treating others as ends in themselves.
- Kant envisions the “kingdom of ends,” where universal laws are based on respect for human dignity and the recognition of each person’s intrinsic moral worth.
14
Q
Hypothetical imperatives
Kant rejects
A
- doing your duty to achieve something else
- E.g. you should not lie if you want to appear honest. Kant thinks this is not genuine morality, since morality shouldn’t depend on **personal desires outcomes **
- He thinks that human reason has the ability to discover the ‘categorical imperative’ instead
15
Q
Problems with Kant
A
- Too focused on duty, he disregards the outcome of the situations = the complexities of life – universalisability cannot work as no two situations are the same.
- he ignores the moral value of emotions: If you do an action because of your emotions, then that’s not moral goodness. = For example, would you tell a known murderer where his victim was? (Kant says we have to.)
It does not account for any particular duty we may have for certain people (e.g. family). - It does not account for times when two absolutes clash.
- Some would say that sometimes human life has to be sacrificed to stop others or more people being killed or suffering.
