Kantian Ethics Duty and Reason

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Kantian Ethics(Duty and Reason)

• Guiding Principle 4

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Kantian Ethics

• This is an example of an autonomous value system.
  It is based on human reason.
• Kantian ethics is deontological (what matters is
  the intention, not the outcome)
• Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) was a German
  philosopher.
• His moral philosophy is based on 2 key ideas
• The Good Will
• Duty

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The Good Will

• The good will can be likened to having good
  intentions
• For Kant, an action cannot be good unless it was
  performed out of good will
• Therefore, a persons inward motive must be good
  in order for the action to be good
• All humans have various capacities and skills.
  We need to use our good will to put them to good
  use.
• For example, most people have the capability to
  write. We must use our good will to direct the
  skill of writing towards good uses. Without good
  will, skills can be used for bad.

4
Duty

• A person is acting in a good way if they perform
  their duty.
• It does not matter what you feel you should do
  you should always do your duty.
• You can know what your duty is by using your
  human reason.
• Example If you see a homeless person and give
  them money because you feel sorry for them, then
  this is not a good action. If you see a homeless
  person and, with use of reason, decide that as a
  more well off person your duty is to help, then
  giving them money on that ground would be good!
• In this case you are combining good will (intent)
  with duty and reason to perform a good action.
• A persons duty can differ depending on the
  situation they are in (e.g. a mothers duty is
  different to that of a teacher, and so on)

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The Categorical Imperative

• Although your specific duty involves different
  things, there are compulsory moral laws which
  everyone has a duty to follow
• These are imperatives
• The categorical imperative is a moral law that
  should apply equally to all people in all
  situations it is universalisable!

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The Categorical Imperative

• This is based on something similar to the Golden
  Rule
• If you think someone stealing something of yours
  is wrong, than anyone stealing anything should be
  wrong.
• If you would not like to be lied to, then no-one
  should lie.
• By doing this you are not just making the world a
  nicer place, but you are also making sure that
  morality is based on reason instead of emotion
  it becomes consistent and equal to everyone.
• Kant argued that if a moral rule cannot be
  applied to all people at all times then it is
  meaningless.

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The benefits of the Categorical Imperative

• Act only on that maxim which you can at the same
  time will that it should become a universal law.
• If you dont want people to go around beating
  each other up, then you should never do it
  yourself.
• This kind of system is also good for personal
  relations if you are treating everyone like
  this, then every person should be valued as an
  individual and not used for any reason (e.g.
  you should be interested in your cleaner as a
  person, not treat them like a slave!)