Kantian ethics
- His theory is absolutist and deontological.
- Kant’s thinking was a response to the crisis of beliefs in the soul, freedom and God coming under criticism.
-Kant did believe in God and an after life but he was suspicious of relying on religious doctrines and dogmas.
-Kant is a deontological ethical thinker; the rightness and wrongness of actions is determined by the actions in themselves. He believes there is an objective moral law that we can know through reason rather than happiness or pleasure.
Kant believes that
Kant’s four basic answers
1) What can I know? I know the framework of human thought and all that is discoverable within that framework.
2) What should I do? I can act in accordance with the principle of autonomy, which operates under practical human reason
3) What may I hope?
4) What is a human being?
Kant’s four basic answers
1) What can I know? I know the framework of human thought and all that is discoverable within that framework.
2) What should I do? I can act in accordance with the principle of autonomy, which operates under human practical reason and which prevents us from being slaves to desire, and work for the greater human happiness.
3) What may I hope? I hope that it is possible to bring about this greater human happiness.
4) What is a human being? The human is the being that offers us experiences of beauty and organisation and is the source of natural and moral law.
Duty and good will
Kant thinks that it is important to have an active sympathy for others, and sympathetic feelings for ourselves
Rationality
Rationality frees us to be able to act independently of instinct or desire for pleasure. Human beings are precious because they have this ability. Human life is beyond price because we act with reason free from desire. We are free to pursue the summon bonum - the supreme good where we do good and it brings happiness for all. When we act we must thin of what it means for those human beings affected and their future interests. We cannot use people for some good if it sacrifices their own interests.
The categorical imperative
For Kant, moral knowledge is categorical. If truth telling is morally right, then we should always tell the truth. Moral law is categorical in its commanding nature. It tells us what to do, irrespective of our particular objectives, preferences, desires and opinions. Our actions must be universalisable (good for all people and all situations); we should never treat people as a means to an end; we should act as if we live in a kingdom of ends. Kant offers these formulas that must inform all laws.
Strengths
- Kant’s morality is very straightforward and based on reason, making it accessible to everyone.
- Duty is part of human experience
- Morality doesn’t depend on motives, consequences or religious laws.
- Morality is doing one’s duty and not just following feelings.
- It aims to treat everyone fairly and justly so corrects utilitarian idea that some can suffer as long as others are happy.
Weaknesses
- Kant’s theory is abstract and not always easily applicable- it tells you what type of actions are good but not the right thing to do in particular situations.
- Universability can be used to justify practically anything - MacIntyre
- Kant seems confused about whether it is a teleological or deontological theory. The basic idea is deontological but there is a future goal of the kingdom of ends.
- Putting duty above people is cold and inhuman there is no place for love
