Kant's ethics
Reason alone, according to Kant, can inform us of moral law, the source of our moral duties. Right actions have moral value only if they are done with a "good will" a will to do your duty for duty's sake.
To do right, therefore, we must do it for duty's s
Kant sees the moral law as a set of
imperatives. Imperatives can be hypthetical or categorical.
A hypothetical imperative tells us
what we should do if we have certain desires. For example, "If you need money, work for it.
A categorical imperative tells us
that we should do a thin in all situations regardless of our wants and needs. For example, "Do not steal," Kant says that the moral law consists entirelyof categorical imperatives. These are the authoritative experession.
Kant's Categorical Imperative
All categorical imperatives, according to Kant, can be derived from the categorical imperative:
"Act only on that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it should become universal law."
An action is permissible if (1) its maxim can be univ
Kant posits two types of moral duty that can be derived from the categorical imperative:
perfect duties & imperfect duties
Perfect duties are
those that must be folowed without exception. According to Kant such duties include the duty not to lie, not to break a promise, and not to commit suicide.
Imperfect duties are
those that can have exceptions, or that are not always to be followed. These include duties to develop your talents, or help others in need.
Kant's second version of the categorical imperative is often referred to as
the "means-ends principle
Mean-Ends Principle
So act as to treat humanity, whether in thine own person or in that of any other, in every case as an end withal, never as a means only."
This rule states that we must treat people, including ourselves, as ends in themselves, rather than as things with i
Evaluating Kant's Ethics:
Kant's moral theory meets the minimum requirement of coherence.
It is also generally consistent with our moral experience (Criterion 2).
Contrary to Kant's view, there appears to be no good example of
an absolute exceptionless, moral duty. We can imagine many scenarios in which each of Kant's erfect duties should be violated in order to do the "right thing.
We can also imagine situations in which we must choose between
two allegedly perfect duties that directly contradict each other.
Such conflicts provide plausible evidence against the notion that there are exceptionless moral duties.
The conflicts between perfect duties also raise questions about
the usefulness of Kant's moral theory to solve specific moral dilemmas.
Another possible problem with Kant's theory is that the means-ends principle is sometimes
impossible to implement. In some situations, in order to treat some persons as ends rather than means, it is necessary to treat other persons as means.
Learning from Kant's Ethics:
Despite its possible shortcomings, Kant's theory has been among the most influential moral theories, mainly because it embodies a good part of what our considered judgements lead us to embrace, namely:
universality
impartiallity
respect for persons