Kantian Ethics
Kantian ethic is based upon the well-known teaching of the German philosopher, Immanuel Kant. According to Kant, an action has moral worth only if the action is done with the right intentions out of a “sense of duty.” I believe that Kant’s formulation of humanity requires for us human beings to not thread merely as a means to an end. As the saying goes “do unto others as you would have them do unto you. “For Kant, individuals are intelligent beings who has the mental capability to think for themselves and make choices” Despite our choices made, they should be done with a motive right intention, not to appease yourself, or for a reward (MacKinnon). I think that Kantian ethic is based on the principle of morality and it is grounded
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“Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” For example, I live comfortably in a mansion but I refuse to assist people who are struggling under great hardship. The maxim here would be that it is permissible not to give help to those who are less fortunate than myself. Kant would argue that no one can consistently will that to become the universal law since the wealthy people among us has the possibility that we ourselves can unfortunately in the future find ourselves in need of the benevolence of others. “Religion is the recognition of all our duties as divine commands.” …show more content…
Kant tells us that lying and killing are always morally wrong. He stated that all people are born with an “intrinsic worth” which he called human dignity. Take for example our presidential candidate, Mrs. Hillary Clinton who is in the news lying about classified email to cover up unethical conflicts of interests while she was Secretary of State. Kant believed that to values ourselves and others instead of means, we have perfect duties to avoid damaging, interfering with or misusing our ability to make free to make free decisions; this means, “no lying!”
Kantian ethics tells us that we should “Act to treat humanity, whether ourselves or another, as an end-in-itself and never as a means.” (MacKinnon). Unfortunately for the tragic shooting of Alton Sterling who was shot dead by Baton Rouge police and the tragic massacre by Omar Mateen, the gunman who opened fire on a gay nightclub, killing 50 people in Orlando, Florida. I am in total agreement with Kant because lying and murder are morally wrong, it contradicts the part of us that gives us moral worth and it robs us of the freedom to choose
Kantianism is named after a German philosopher Immanuel Kant, who lived in 1724-1804. According to Kant, the only thing that is good is good will; moreover, the good will builds the whole structure of the society. Kantianism is based on the intent of the action or person’s intention which are the predominant attributes of the good will. The basic principle of Kantianism theory depicts the idea of universal truths. It explains that a moral rule must be universal. Also, it describes that people should be treated with respect. Moreover, it explains the credibility of an action why it is right or wrong and convinces the user with logical reasons. Kant proposed the Categorical Imperative, which describes a set up to explain, “What makes a moral rule appropriate?” One version of the Categorical Imperative states that it is wrong for a person to use himself or another person uniquely as a means to an end. Most of the time it is easier to use the second version of the Categorical Imperative to analyze a moral problem from a Kantian point of view. For example, in the case of Jean, misusing the responsibilities of someone else’s duty. It was wrong for Jean to treat the profession of the doctor as a means to an end. Jean deceived the profession of the doctors with the goal of getting benefit to save his nephew. It was wrong for jean to misuse his responsibilities rather than to think that he can find a way to look for a doctor. We can also look at this scenario using the first version of the Categorical Imperative. Jean wanted to save his nephew Pierre. A proposed moral rule might be, “Take a decision in his hands to save his nephew.” However, if everyone followed the same rule, it will diminish the sense of duty, responsibility, and the respect of the profession. If everyone will act the same way in this type of situation and try to misuse his or her professional responsibilities, then there will
Thus, Kant gives cases in which duty and self-interest clash, with the goal that it is clear that the operator is persuaded singularly obligation. He highlights the two cases of cooperative attitude that Kant refers to are the to a great degree distressed individual who chooses not to confer suicide since it is unethical, and immoral. An individual's duty as per Kant, takes the type of the ethical law. The moral law, dependably applies to us, and applies to everybody in the same way. In light of this, Kant depicts the moral law as a categorical imperative that is an exemption command. The moral law is widespread hence very diverse for every individual. Conversely, moral laws are generally applied to each operator in the same way. Kant gives various diverse plans of the categorical imperative, which he claims are comparable to each other in importance. The most well known is the universal law formulation. As a universal law, it requires that an individual ought to act just in a manner that the principle you act under can turn into an all inclusive law. Kant contends that it is constantly shameless to
In the end, I believe that Kantianism is still a valuable guide to behavior. The theory wants humanity to do the right thing, whatever the right thing might be, and if it brings satisfaction, then it is a bonus but satisfaction cannot be the premise of doing an action. However, Kantianism also has its flaws on what someone should do in a given situation and ultimately, causing the theory to self-contridict. As any theory, it is a good guideline but it should never dictated one's life.
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
Emmanuel Kant was a influential philosopher and strong proponent of the modern era. Besides his large contribution to epistemology and metaphysics, his work in ethics was just as substantial. Kant’s ethics came to propose an objective morality, where moral judgments is not only true according to a person 's subjective view. He believed the moral worth of an action is not determined by its consequence but the motive behind it. Additionally, the “only motive that can endow an act with moral value, is one that arises from universal principles discovered by reason” (McCormick). Through Kant’s ethics, he demonstrates this duty through his unconditional moral principle, the categorical imperative. The categorical imperative expresses that morality is not about the outcome (good or bad), but the right action regardless of the outcome. It is the responsibility to do one 's duty for its own sake and not in pursuit of one’s own desire.
Kant, Immanuel. Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals: With on a Supposed Right to Lie Because of Philanthropic Concerns. Trans. James W. Ellington. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1994. Print.
Kant theory is saying that everyone must do things for the right reasons. According to Deontological ethics theory, an action is considered favourable sometimes because of some good aspect of action in itself without considering its good result from the action. This theory is much based upon the one’s morals and values which expresses the “sake of duty” and virtue. Deontology tells us to be fair and not to take advantage of others while teleology tells about doing whatever we want and it gives us a result that is good to us. [17]
Kant believed consequences were irrelevant and an individual should do as they please at that very moment in time. An example would be a person went to their neighbor’s home while they were gone to turn on the heater so when they returned home it was warm. A consequence to turning on their heater is their house burned down, but according to Kant, since your intentions were good you cannot be at fault. Kant also believed each person has dignity and not to treat others as a means, to one’s personals ends (Rich, 2008). In other words, do not treat others as an instrument to achieve a goal. For example, a researcher that is risking the well-being of an individual participating in an experiment for the sake of finding a drug that may save many lives.
Kant’s moral philosophy is built around the formal principles of ethics rather than substantive human goods. He begins by outlining the principles of reasoning that can be equally expected of all rational persons regardless of their individual desires or partial interests. It creates an ideal universal community of rational individuals who can collectively agree on the moral principles for guiding equality and autonomy. This is what forms the basis for contemporary human rig...
Overall, Kantian ethics are based on duty, and the duty is to perform universally good actions. For this form of ethics, good will is defined as the good. Kant highlights that “a good will is good…[because]
As a deontological, or duty-based, theory, Kantianism is focus on intent. If the intent behind an action is morally praiseworthy and fits into the categorical imperative, it must be ethical. The categorical imperative is the main element in Kantianism, and it states that you must act as if it was universal law. This is similar to the Golden Rule of “treat others how you wish to be treated” and is a way to determine whether an act is morally praiseworthy. Kantian ethics are different from utilitarianism in that happiness is not a
Johnson, Robert, Johnson,. "Kant's Moral Philosophy." Stanford University. Stanford University, 23 Feb. 2004. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.
Kant believed that morality has to be something free and freely controlled by the person taking the moral action excluding consequences because consequences are not controllable. Morality is freely chosen and legislated universal law that any rational being could construct and all rational beings who want to be moral do
The Kantianism is a theory created by the philosopher Immanuel Kant. The name of the theory is derived from his last name and it is originated with the aim to guide people towards a right and moral behavior. This moral ideal encourages people to make decisions based on doing what the individual is duty to do, what is right and valuable, which is within the moral and ethical range. The center of this theory is to consider other people and have in mind what that action will cause to others. This means to choose the decision not only thinking about your own benefit but also in others; as Kantian said “when human beings are treated merely as a means to an end, they are being treated as the equivalent objects and are being denied their basic
Everyday people are faced with situations that they have to weigh their emotions out and decide if what their actions agree with their own internal moral code. Everyone faces challenges where they want to be successful, but at the same time want to be virtuous. To be virtuous means to have a morally good character. (Webster Dictionary) These issues are something that philosophers have been attempting to find the ethically correct answer to for centuries. One ethical dilemma that people are faced with daily is lying. A lie is an intentional false statement. Many people feel the need to lie to make themselves feel better or to get out of something they have done wrong. It is clear that in those situations it is morally wrong to lie, but what