Immanuel Kant

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Immanuel Kant

• A Duty Based Ethic

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The Good Will

• Good will means the will to do ones duty, to act
  conscientiously with regard to morality.
• All human beings possess the ability to act in
  accordance with good will.

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The Principle of Universalizability

• Hypothetical Imperatives
• Hypothetical imperatives focus on some intended
  outcome from doing the right thing.
• Kant rejects the notion that we should act in
  such a way as to achieve happiness, because that
  is what makes humans fully human. (contra Plato,
  Aristotle, Aquinas)

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The Principle of Universalizability, cont.

• The Categorical Imperative I am never to act
  otherwise than so that I could also will that my
  maxim should become a universal law.
• Deontological vs. Teleological Ethics

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Human Nature As an End in Itself

• Kant said that we should never treat persons as
  means to an end, but always as ends in
  themselves.
• We must always act in such a way that affirms
  another persons rationality, freedom, and
  dignity.

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Exceptions to the Categorical Imperative?

• The Spouse in the House
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• Various Biblical texts