CH2.3 Kantian Ethics

Question 1

did Kant believe in god?

Answer 1

yes he did. But he was suspicious of relying on religious doctrine and dogmas

Question 2

what did Kant think about how we saw the world and morality?

Answer 2

he thought that how we saw the world and morality were framed by concepts and categories.
-Knowledge is hung on these concepts and categories, so when we look at a moral problem we make sense of the reality of it using a framework that applies in all situations and at all times.

Question 3

how did Kant believe that moral knowledge was known? and this makes moral knowledge what? and what is it not?

Answer 3

Kant believed that moral knowledge was known through reason, not experience or emotion.
-this makes moral knowledge ‘a priori’. It is prior to relying on experience and it is synthetic, in that it brings additional information from outside of the experience.
-It is not hypothetical, dependent on the particular goal we are going for, as it is based on the moral law, an objective law that always binds us. This moral knowledge is something we can deduce through reason

Question 4

the moral law is something that we must what? what can the moral law not be thought of and why?

Answer 4

-something that we must categorically follow.
-it is not something that can be thought of as hypothetical because morals, for Kant, are universal maxims - fixed rules that must always apply.

Question 5

moral laws must treat people as what?

Answer 5

moral laws must treat people as human beings with their own interests, not just to be used for the interests of others, and they must act as is the world is a place where people made and followed universal rules.

Question 6

for Kant, what were good people?

Answer 6

for Kant, good people were those who always follow the moral law. They do this because they have a good will and do their duty.

Question 7

what type of ethical thinker is Kant?

Answer 7

he is a deontological ethical thinker; the rightness or wrongness is determined by the actions in themselves.
-he believes that there is an objective moral law that we can know through reason rather than happiness or pleasure

Question 8

what did Kant think about if our morality was driven by desire for pleasure?

Answer 8

Kant thought that if our morality is driven by desire for pleasure, then we are slaves to animal instincts.

Question 9

what does the summum bonum mean?

Answer 9

it means the supreme good.

Question 10

what are the 4 questions from which Kant’s approach to his philosophy come from?

Answer 10

1)what can i know?
2)what should i do?
3)what may i hope?
4)what is a human being?

Question 11

through his philosophy, what are the basic answers that he provides for his 4 questions?

Answer 11

1)what can i know?
- i know the framework of human thought and all that is discoverable within that framework
2)what should i do?
- i can act in accordance with the principle of autonomy, which operates under human practical reason and which prevents us from being slaves to desire, and work for the greater human happiness.
3)what may i hope?
- i hope that it is possible to bring about this greater human happiness
4)what is a human being?
- the human is the being that offers us experience of beauty and organisation and is the source of natural and moral law/

Question 12

why is it demanded that we all follow the moral law in its own right?

Answer 12

it demands all obey it in its own right, not because it promotes individual happiness or helps achieve personal desires. It tells us what we ought to do, irrespective of consequences.

Question 13

how do human beings perceive the moral law?

Answer 13

through their rational capacity

Question 14

what are the 8 duties, which Kant establishes, to ourselves and others?

Answer 14

-to strive for self-perfection and the well-being of others
-to pursue the greater good, not one’s own happiness
-the innate right to freedom
-the duty not to destroy ourselves, to commit suicide
-the duty not to destroy or limit other human beings (we could sacrifice ourselves for others in battle, as this preserves their future happiness and freedom)
-the duty not to make false promises, as truthfulness is a foundation of human society
-to avoid drunkenness, as this compromises our freedom to act reasonably, or gluttony, as this makes us unhealthy and, therefore, risks our future ability to act freely
-the right to private property and ownership (cannot include the ownership of other people but we can enter into contracts with one another so that, for instance, two people can promise themselves exclusively to each other in marriage, or a person can hire another person to carry a specific task)
-Kant concludes that the state is necessary to make sure these rights are protected and suitable

Question 15

For Kant, how is moral knowledge known?

Answer 15

it is known through reason, not experience or emotion.

Question 16

what does Kant think knowledge can be separated into? and what are they?

Answer 16

that it can be separated into two groups.
-there is the knowledge that we gain through our sense perceptions from the empirical world around us: what we can see, hear, touch and smell. This knowledge comes to us out of experience of particular objects and is a posteriori.
-there is also knowledge that is not dependent on experience, it is knowledge we have at first hand, ‘a priori’, prior to relying on experience. This knowledge is not particular to one physical object, but is a necessary or universal feature of all objects that are a priori

Question 17

what are the two types of judgements we make?

Answer 17

either analytic or synthetic.

Question 18

what is an analytic judgement?

Answer 18

it is one where the predicate belongs to the subject. E.g: ‘all bachelors are unmarried’. The subject is ‘bachelors’ and the predicate is ‘unmarried’

Question 19

what is a synthetic judgement/proposition?

Answer 19

those in which the predicate is outside the subject, and therefore must be made certain with reference to something other than the meaning of terms and laws of logic.
-E.g. ‘the table in the kitchen is round’. To test whether this is true we need additional information, such as looking at the particular table in the kitchen because tables are not necessarily or universally round.
-this is a judgement of amplification because, when true, it adds new information to the subject.

Question 20

what type does Kant think moral judgements should be?

Answer 20

he thinks they should be synthetic.

Question 21

what does the hypothetical imperative command?

Answer 21

it commands behaviour for an end. It only commands us if we have accepted the desired end. If we have not accepted that end, then we need not act.
-This is wrong, says Kant. We should look to the moral law which binds us unconditionally.

Question 22

For Kant, moral knowledge is what?

Answer 22

it is categorical.
-if truth telling is morally right, then we should always tell the truth.

Question 23

what does the categorical imperative command from us?

Answer 23

the categorical imperative commands us to exercise our will in a certain way irrespective of any end.
-the moral rules and acts reside in themselves alone (deontological), not in circumstances or whether they bring personal happiness.

Question 24

how can we be sure that something is in accordance with the moral law. E.g that telling the truth is in accordance with the moral law?

Answer 24

Kant offers three principles or formulas in the categorical imperative:
1) our actions must be universalizable (good for all people and all situations)
2) we should never treat people only as means to an end
3) we should act as if we live in a kingdom of ends.
-Kant offers these formulas that must inform all laws.

Question 25

What did Kant say about maxims that could not be universalized?

Answer 25

he argued that they would be self-defeating

Question 26

moral choices are only possible if what?

Answer 26

if people are free to make them