Kant

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Kants Ethics
Kants quotes are from FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF
THE METAPHYSICS OF MORALS
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Kant offers A Deontological Approach to Ethics

• Actions have intrinsic moral worth regardless of
  consequences.
• Duty based.
• Good actions derive their value from adherence to
  moral laws, rules or principles.

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Kants Ethics

• For Kant it is not so much a matter of following
  rules just because they are rules, but
• It is important that the moral rules are
  rationally justifiable.

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Check this out (a treat from the web)
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The Will

• Kant starts with the notion of a will that is
  free.
• The object is to create a good will.

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Good Will

• Nothing in the world-indeed nothing even beyond
  the world--can
• possibly be conceived which could be called good
  without qualification
• except a GOOD WILL.
• from FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF THE METAPHYSICS
  OF MORALS

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Duty
Duty is the necessity to do an action from
respect for law FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF THE
METAPHYSICS OF MORALS
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Moral Worth Depends on Principle That Guides The
WillNot On The Consequences

• Its moral value,
• therefore, does not depend upon the realization
  of the object of
• the action but merely on the principle of the
  volition by which the
• action is done irrespective of the objects of
  the faculty of desire.
• FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF THE METAPHYSICS OF
  MORALS

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Where Do We Find The Principle?

• Through Reason
• Utilizing The Categorical Imperative

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Imperatives

• Reason commands the Will
• The Will is Practical Reason
• Formulas For Commands of Reason are called
  Imperatives
• They take one of two forms
• Hypothetical -- If then..
• Categorical . Universal . Must DO

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Which would be the imperative of morality?

• Not the Hypothetical
• an action is good to some purpose
• Categorical
• declares the action to be itself objectively
  necessary without making any reference to any end
  in view
• FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF THE METAPHYSICS OF
  MORALS

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One Categorical Imperative

• Act only according to that maxim by which you
  can at the same time will that it should become a
  universal law.

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Duty to Obey, regardless of consequences

• Who is bound by this duty?
• Duty is the practical unconditional necessity
  of action it must, therefore, hold for all
  rational beings (to which alone an imperative can
  apply), and only for that reason can it be a law
  for all human wills.
• FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF THE METAPHYSICS OF
  MORALS

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Huh????

• One must be able to rationally establish that all
  other rational beings must always do this sort of
  action as a matter of moral course.
• Regardless of the consequences.
• If one breaks a moral law, one owns the
  consequences.
• If one obeys a moral law, and negative
  consequences result, it is not her fault.

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Do the right thing

• You must do the right thing for the right reason.
• You recognize it as a moral law.
• It is your duty to obey the law out of
  reverence, deep respect for it.

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Let us try it out

• We need a maxim
• Can we rationally establish that all other
  rational beings must always do this sort of
  action as a matter of moral course?
• If so, It is a moral law
• It is our duty to obey out of reverence for the
  moral law.

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What counts???

• Rational beings
• Ends in themselves
• Kant offers his Practical Imperative
• Act so that you treat humanity, whether in your
  own person or in that of another, always as an
  end and never as a means only.
• FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF THE METAPHYSICS OF
  MORALS

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The Practical Imperative

• Kant thinks that this is another way to express
  the Categorical Imperative.
• Because humans are rational and can choose and
  take responsibility, it is unethical to ignore
  their rational autonomy and just treat them like
  a tool for our own satisfaction.
• We must respect their ability to make their own
  decisions and reap whatever benefits or
  punishments that follow.