Module 6 1. According to Kant, why would it be wrong for someone to voluntarily be homeless? According to Kant, it be wrong for someone to voluntarily be homeless because Kant believes that we have a moral duty to develop our talents. Moreover, living homelessly on the streets is an irrational decision; thus, makes it a categorical imperative choice. 2. What was Baumgarten 's view of duties? According to Baumgarten, the laws of nature mandate a specific set of suites to God, self and others. For instance, to practice prayer, benevolence and self-development. 3. What is the fundamental law of nature for Wolff? For Wolff, the fundamental law of nature follows this rule of working to make ourselves and other more perfect: “do what makes you and your condition, or that of others, more perfect; omit what makes it less perfect” (Feiser pg. 175). 4. What is Kant 's view about authoritarian moral commands? According to Kant, morality cannot arise from authoritarian commands but rather from the authority of human reason. …show more content…
What are the two classes of motives that influence our will? And, For Kant, what is the only legitimate motive in moral decision making? According to Kant, the two classes of motives that influence our will include selfish inclinations and rational obligations. What is more, for Kant, the motives behind true moral decision making are those of rational duty conforming to the categorical imperative. 6. What is the step-by-step procedure indicated by the categorical imperative? the step-by-step procedure indicated by the categorical imperative is as follows (1) complete an action, (2) observe the maxim or guiding principle behind the action, (3) reflect on what that maxim would be like if it were a universal rule that everyone followed, and (4) if the universal rule is reasonable, then accept the action as moral; if unreasonable, reject the action as
flawless nature must tend to the individual ideals of all, yet prevent them from interfering with
In the essay titled “Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals” published in the Morality and Moral Controversies course textbook, Immanuel Kant argues that the view of the world and its laws is structured by human concepts and categories, and the rationale of it is the source of morality which depends upon belief in the existence of God. In Kant’s work, categorical imperative was established in order to have a standard rationale from where all moral requirements derive. Therefore, categorical imperative is an obligation to act morally, out of duty and good will alone. In Immanuel Kant’s writing human reason and or rational are innate morals which are responsible for helping human. Needless to say, this also allows people to be able to distinct right from wrong. For the aforementioned reasons, there is no doubt that any action has to be executed solely out of a duty alone and it should not focus on the consequence but on the motive and intent of the action. Kant supports his argument by dividing the essay into three sections. In the first section he calls attention to common sense mor...
This selection is only the first section of Immanuel Kant’s Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals. I am only going to discuss duty and morality. Kant gives three propositions regarding duty (p.107). Kant argues that the will that acts from reason is the will guided by duty.
Kant states that moral worth is the value of a good will in dutiful action. Dutiful actions done “from duty” have moral worth while dutiful actions that are merely “according to duty” have no moral
Kant largely focused on Categorical Imperative and had said “Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.” Kant saw the later as somewhat of a moral compass. Kant suggested to people if they were unsure if something was moral or not, to ask themselves what rule they would be following if they did, and they could then determine their
Kant argued that the Categorical Imperative (CI) was the test for morally permissible actions. The CI states: I must act in such a way that I can will that my maxim should become a universal law. Maxims which fail to pass the CI do so because they lead to a contradiction or impossibility. Kant believes this imperative stems from the rationality of the will itself, and thus it is necessary regardless of the particular ends of an individual; the CI is an innate constituent of being a rational individual. As a result, failure ...
The aim of this essay is to differentiate between law and morality, and to discuss whether there is an overlap between the two concepts. I will be making reference to theorists of both positive law and natural law, namely H. L. A Hart and Lon L. Fuller respectively and compare the two views on the above question. For the purpose of understanding, I will apply the two theories to the legal system in Nazi Germany.
Before I explain the first proposition of morality I first want to explain some important terms and phrases that Kant uses. Kant uses the term inclination which means desire or motive. When something is done from inclination then it is done because of a certain desire or motive to accomplish or gain something such as joy and the like. Inclination can be direct or indirect. A direct inclination is an inclination that causes you to do an action simply because you want to. For example, I have a desire to sleep, so then I go to sleep because of my desire to. On the other hand, an indirect inclination is an inclination that causes you to do an action because it will help you to achieve a certain goal. For example, I have a desire to be a doctor, so I study and try to do well in school so in the future I can be a doctor. So, an indirect inclination can be seen as doing an action for what the action can lead to in the long term while a direct inclination can be seen as doing an action for something you desire now, or in other words the action leads to a direct result of satisfaction of some sort.
In order to act, one must have will, which is the determination of the mind to act. Kant argues that we need good will because it is not only good in itself but to develop it, we also must have reason behind it. According to Kant, one’s personal will is only good if they are motivated by nothing other than duty. Kant argues that to fulfill our moral obligations, we must act from duty and offers three essential principles. The first proposition states that an action must be done from duty in order to have moral worth. Therefore we must act from duty rather than act in accordance with duty because then our action would not be morally worthy. The second proposition, maxims, states that an action done from duty has moral worth in the maxim that guides it. Kant clearly proposes that an action must be done for its own sake instead of the sake for anything else, “an action from duty h...
Deontology is the ethical view that some actions are morally forbidden or permitted regardless of consequences. One of the most influential deontological philosophers in history is Immanuel Kant who developed the idea of the Categorical Imperative. Kant believed that the only thing of intrinsic moral worth is a good will. Kant says in his work Morality and Rationality “The good will is not good because of what it affects or accomplishes or because of it’s adequacy to achieve some proposed end; it is good only because of it’s willing, i.e., it is good of itself”. A maxim is the generalized rule that characterizes the motives for a person’s actions. For Kant, a will that is good is one that is acting by the maxim of doing the right thing because it is right thing to do. The moral worth of an action is determined by whether or not it was acted upon out of respect for the moral law, or the Categorical Imperative. Imperatives in general imply something we ought to do however there is a distinction between categorical imperatives and hypothetical imperatives. Hypothetical imperatives are obligatory so long as we desire X. If we desire X we ought to do Y. However, categorical imperatives are not subject to conditions. The Categorical Imperative is universally binding to all rational creatures because they are rational. Kant proposes three formulations the Categorical Imperative in his Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Moral, the Universal Law formulation, Humanity or End in Itself formulation, and Kingdom of Ends formulation. In this essay, the viablity of the Universal Law formulation is tested by discussing two objections to it, mainly the idea that the moral laws are too absolute and the existence of false positives and false negatives.
Kant presents his followers with both categorical and hypothetical imperatives (Reitan). The hypothetical imperatives, often dubbed the imperfect duties, basically state, “If you want X, do Y (Reitan).” In other words, hypothetical imperatives are not obligatory of people, but encourage certain actions for certain results. Categorical imperatives say, “Do Y, no matter what you want (Reitan).” These perfect duties, as they are referred to as, are rules that we must follow without any acceptable exceptions (Degrazia, Mappes and Brand-Ballard). These perfect duties include the forbidding of killing innocent people, lying, breaking promises, becoming intoxicated, committing suicide, and masturbating (Horn). Kant ultimately believes that reason dictates what is right and wrong through the categorical imperative of Kantian Deontology, which has two formulations (Reitan). The first states, “Act only on that maxim that you can at the same time (consistently) will to be a universal law (of nature) (Reitan).” This is the philosophical equivalent of “treat others the way you want to be treated.” The second formulation, which could arguably provide a different
While Kant’s theory may seem “overly optimistic” (Johnson, 2008) now, it was ruled as acceptable and rational behavior then. Kant believed that any moral or ethical decision could be achieved with consistent behavior. While judgment was based on reason, morals were based on rational choices made by human beings (Freeman, 2000). A human’s brain is the most advanced in the animal kingdom. Not only do human beings work on instinct, but they have the ability to sort out situations in order to make a decision. This includes weighing the pros and cons of decisions that could be made and how they affect others either positively or negatively. This is called rational thought. Kant believed that any human being able to rationalize a decision before it was made had the ability to be a morally just person (Freeman, 2000). There were certain things that made the decision moral, and he called it the “Categorical Imperative” (Johnson, 2008). If someone was immoral they violated this CI and were considered irrational. The CI is said to be an automatic response which was part of Kant’s argument that all people were deserving of respect. This automatic response to rational thinking is where he is considered, now, to be “overly optimistic” (Johnson, 2008).
1. Explain what Lewis means by the “Law of Nature” or the “Law of Human Nature.”
In Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, Immanuel Kant argues that human beings inherently have capability to make purely rational decisions that are not based on inclinations and such rational decisions prevent people from interfering with freedom of another. Kant’s view of inherent ability to reason brings different perspective to ways which human beings can pursue morality thus it requires a close analytical examination.
Through his discussion of morals in the Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, Immanuel Kant explores the question of whether a human being is capable of acting solely out of pure duty and if our actions hold true moral value. In passage 407, page 19, Kant proposes that if one were to look at past experiences, one cannot be certain that his or her rationalization for performing an action that conforms with duty could rest solely on moral grounds. In order to fully explain the core principle of moral theory, Kant distinguishes between key notions such as a priori and a posteriori, and hypothetical imperative vs. categorical imperative, in order to argue whether the actions of rational beings are actually moral or if they are only moral because of one’s hidden inclinations.