Bentham and Kant Ethics Flashcards
Outline Kant’s moral philosophy
Kant believed that the only intrinsic good and moral absolute was the good will. The good will refers to following one’s duty which can be done by reflecting upon reason and arriving at the categorical imperative.
Kant argues “man must be disciplined for by his nature he is raw and wild”, the sentiment extends to his deontological approach to ethics which provide a fixed criteria for assessing the morality of actions.
Outline the categorical imperative
Unlike hypothetic imperatives, which are conditional obligations and therefore dependent on personal desires or goals, categorical imperatives are obligations which are unconditional and irrespective of any consequences.
1st formulation: universability
For an action to be deemed moral, its maxim (the principle underlying it) must be able to be universally applied to everyone without contradiction.
2nd formulation: ends in themselves
People should be treated as an ends in themselves not something to be exploited or taken advantage of to receive a certain outcome. Kant argues “always treat persons, whether others or in yourself, as an ends”
3rd formulation: Kingdom of ends
Kant argues everyone should act as though they are a law making individual in the Kingdom of Ends, a hypothetical realm where everyone acts in accordance with the categorical imperative.
Outline Kant’s postulates
Kant outlines 3 postulates, presumptions which should be taken as true in order for his ethical theory to work.
Free will: Kant argues humans are rational free agents who can autonomously use their reason to arrive at the categorical imperative and then freely choose whether or not to follow this.
Immortality: Kant recognises that “wicked people quite often prosper and virtuous people suffer”, therefore there must be somewhere else where virtue is rewarded with happiness and the summon bonum can be achieved. Kant believes this can only occur in some form of afterlife.
God exists: Kant believed in order for the summon bonum to be achieved in an afterlife, there must be a God who can exercise justice.
Outline the strengths of Kant’s ethics
Provides fixed guidelines:
Kant’s deontological ethics provide a clear criteria for which the morality of actions can be measured against. The formulation of universalisability which underpins the categorical imperative sets a global standard for behaviour and is thus applicable to everyone.
Barclay also argues that: “lesson of experience is that we need a certain amount of law.”
This is in accordance with Cicero’s statement: one law both eternal and unchanging binding upon all nations for all time.
Respects the value and worth of every individual: The second formulation highlights treating people as an ends in themselves. This sentiment can be seen to lay the foundation of secular Human Rights laws which emphasises that humans have certain intrinsic rights that cannot be taken away. This notion can also be seen compatible with theological ideas. Christianity places a large emphasis on the sanctity of life principle which highlights how as humans were created “imago Dei” we all have intrinsic value. This therefore shows how Kant’s ideas can be compatible with secular and theological ideas and is arguably a favourable contrast to Utilitarianism which sees humans as only having instrumental value.
Secular theory: morality is derived from reflecting upon reason in order to arrive at the categorical imperative rather than a source of divine authority such as NML requires. Arguably making Kantian ethics more attractive to secular audiences compared to other deontological theories.
Outline the weaknesses of Kantian ethics
Too rigid and fixed:
Kant’s ethics are too fixed and theoretical making it impractical in the real world. Kant’s solutions to deriving the morality of an action are based on how people behave in a theoretical realm where everyone follows the moral law. This is not comparable to the real world where we find ourselves in complex situations making the notion of morality much more nuanced than Kant implies.
Issue of conflicting duties:
It does not take into account when two absolutes clash. Sartre notes a similar point using the example of a soldier who simultaneously has the duty to fight and defend his country but has a sick parent at home who is his duty to look after. Both of these actions are universalizable and neither treat people as a means to an ends, yet Kant’s criteria cannot address this conflict.
Underpinned by theological ideas:
Despite appearing secular, for Kant’s theory to work it relies on assumptions that must be taken as true. These postulates both require belief in God and an afterlife, two unfalsifiable concepts grounded in faith opposed to empirical evidence. Thus making it unfavourable for an atheist audience.
Outline Bentham’s Utilitarianism
As an ethical naturalist, Bentham argues that what is natural to us must be what we ought to do and thus guide our moral behaviour.
He states “nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereigns of pain and pleasure” and therefore assumes as it is natural for us to seek pleasure and avoid pain, morality is ascertained by the action that produces the greatest good for the greatest number and seeks to maximise pleasure and minimise pain.
Utilitarianism as a consequentialist theory focuses on the outcome of an action, behaving morally requires the predictions on the outcomes of an action and what will ascertain the greatest happiness.
The principle of utility outlines how actions can be judged based on the outcomes they produce and the extent of usefulness of these outcomes.
The hedonic calculus can be utilised to assess how much pleasure an act will bring about in reference to 7 criteria; propinquity, extent, certainty, purity, duration, intensity and fecundity.
Outline Mill’s rule based utilitarianism
Rule based utilitarianism is focused on the common good of society and suggests rather than using the Hedonic calculus - which is not always applicable in practice - we should follow the rule which generally leads to the greatest happiness for the greatest number.
This approach is also known is qualitative utilitarianism where Mill distinguishes between higher order and second order pleasures, arguing that the quality of pleasure is more important than the quantity of it. He suggests certain pleasures contribute more to human well being than others.
Higher order pleasures exercise our higher cognitive abilities and are pleasures of the mind, are of greater value than those pleasures of the body, which can be achieved by any sentient being.
