Deontological Ethics

1
Deontological Ethics

• Good actions have intrinsic value they are done
  out of a sense of duty to a moral imperative.

2
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

• Kant believes that the only thing that can be
  called morally good is a good will.
• He claims that no normative theory of ethics (of
  what we ought to do) can be derived from
  experience (either in terms of the effects of
  actions or the causes of actions).
• This is why Kant proposes to do a metaphysics of
  morals, which he understands to be based on
  synthetic a priori propositions.

3
The concept of duty

• The basic concept governing deontology is the
  concept of duty (in Greek, the world deontology
  means the science of duty).
• Duties give us moral obligations regardless of
  our preferences or the anticipated consequences
  of the actions.
• We act out of duty when the sole motivation of
  our action is respect for the moral law.

4
Practical reason and ethics

• Kant believed that a true understanding of ethics
  comes from a true understanding of what it means
  to be human.
• Human beings are, fundamentally, rational.
• This means that human action follows rules.
• Following a rule is just the application of
  reason to action, or practical reason.

5
Imperatives

• When we examine the rules governing our actions,
  we realize that some of those rules have the
  moral authority to compel us to act .
• The moral authority of our rules comes from the
  degree to which we can universalize those rules.
• We must ask ourselves can the rule governing my
  action be made into a universal law?

6
Categorical Imperatives

• These imperatives have the force of a universal
  moral law.
• They command necessarily and objectively in
  themselves.
• They provide perfect duties that are determined
  in every respect and should not vary between
  people, societies or time periods.

7
Hypothetical Imperatives

• Whoever wills the end also necessarily wills the
  means to that end (Kant, pg. 28).
• Hypothetical imperatives provide imperfect
  duties.
• These are duties we have to ourselves or others
  that remain undetermined in some respect and may
  vary for individuals, cultures, or time periods.

8
Three Formulations of the Categorical Imperative

• Act only in accordance with that maxim/rule that
  you could will to become a universal law (Kant,
  pg. 31).
• Act only in such a way that you treat humanity,
  either in yourself or in others, always as an end
  in itself and never as a means to an end (Kant,
  pg. 38).
• Consider yourself to be both lawgiver and subject
  in an ideal community, a kingdom of ends (Kant,
  pg. 41).

9
Consider the case of a promise

• For Kant, keeping a promise is a perfect duty it
  commands categorically.
• The will that feels obligated to fulfill promises
  is an intrinsically good thing.
• One can demonstrate the good of promise-keeping
  according to each formulation of the categorical
  imperative
• First, promise-breaking involves a contradiction
  in the practical concept of promise-making
  second, a person who breaks a promise treats
  another person as a means to his own end and
  finally the best possible society would be a
  society in which everyone kept their promises.