accompanied by a questioning of the very nature of the moral: Is there an impartial criterion that enables us to know objectively what one ought to do, or do our moral intuitions rest solely on subjective, arbitrary grounds? With the lure of divine command theory fading from the Enlightenment and onwards, modern moral philosophy can be seen as an attempt to uncover either the criterion or its nonexistence. An endeavor in which few can be said to have been as influential as Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) and his
deeds for the sake of being good, or are good deeds disguised under selfish motives. Kant stated the only thing that is unconditionally good, or as he termed it a categorical imperative, and the only categorical imperative, is good will. If good will, is unconditionally good, and is the only categorical imperative, then categorical imperatives are nonexistent, because there is no such thing as having a good will. Every action has an underlying reason for it. No action is done simply as a means for itself
morality (Downie 33). Ethics is the philosophical study of morality. Morality is the system that describes the rules or criterias that guide human conduct. It is a system that is comprised of moral rules and principles that is used to differentiate between the right and the wrong. These moral rules and principles are otherwise known as "rules of conduct.” A theory is a structured set of statements used to explain (or predict) a set of facts or concepts. A moral theory, then, explains why a certain action
with various beliefs and theories. To be more specific, I despise taking philosophy courses. The first philosophy class that I ever encountered was a combination of philosophy and sociology. Although it relied heavily on sociological aspects and theories, we spent about one hour during a three hour class period discussing philosophical theories. In that one hour, I learned that I despise philosophy courses. I passed the class and forgot all about that one hour of philosophical wisdom. However, one semester
moral theories being de-ontological (backward looking/origin) and teleological (forward looking/ends). Both also have religious and non-religious strands. The de-ontological theory consists of the divine-command theory (religious) and Kantianism (non-religious), while the teleological theory is composed of natural-law theory (religious) and utilitarianism (non-religious). In this paper, all four strands of moral theory will be used to evaluate the Fuller article and decipher which moral theory best
Analysis of Kant’s Categorical Imperative in Metaphysics Grounding for the metaphysics of morals is a foundation of Kant’s philosophy, in this book, Kant wants to build up a moral kingdom of metaphysical. At first, Kant extracted categorical imperative from the concepts of goodness, will and obligation and enacted some rational principles, then, he plans to map out moral metaphysic through categorical imperative. However, he failed to do so owing to that his theory is founded on purely idealism
examine and contrast Utilitarianism and Kant’s theory of the Categorical Imperative, both, which provide people with a moral structure, and how the issue of etiquettes relates to Kantian Theory. It is important to note that both the theories have their advantages and drawbacks, thus to enable one to make a methodical decision, it is important to understand the basic principles of each. However, in this paper there will be a main focus on Kantian Categorical argument and then discussing the issue of etiquettes
From the origin of Western philosophical thought, there has been an interest in moral laws. As Hume points out in the Treatise, "morality is a subject that interests us above all others" (David Hume "A Treatise of Human Nature'). Originally, thoughts of how to live were centered on the issue of having the most satisfying life, with "virtue governing one's relations to others" (J.B. Schneewind 'Modern Moral Philosophy'). However, the view that there is one way to live that is best for everyone and
deontology to existentialism, philosophers can have a wide range of beliefs and theories of morals. Kant, being the first to develop his theories, believed in a categorical imperative. Kant wants people to act from duty, and this is the basis of his moral perception. Nietzsche on the other hand challenges this and attempts to question and explain where these moral values come from and why they have vale at all. Kant’s moral theories are extremely rationally based, and also based on having a motive to act
Ethics is comprised of four main theories: (1) the Virtue Theory ( i.e., Virtue Ethics), which is commonly associated with Aristotle, (2) Deontology (or the Duty Based Theory), usually referred to with Immanuel Kant, (3) Consequentialism (more commonly referred to as Utilitarianism), defended by John Stuart Mill, and (4) the Feminist Theory (also referred to as Care Ethics), which was developed by feminists, such as Virginia Held, in the nineteenth century. Each theory or practice differs in its own