Deontology Flashcards
What is strong non-consequentialism?
the idea that consequences are completely irrelevant to the rightness or wrongness of an act
What is deontology’s relation to strong non-consequentialism?
deontology is a type of strong non-consequentialism
Which philosopher is associated with deontology?
Emmanuel Kant
For a deontologist, what defines good?
rationality, not happiness
What is the categorical imperative?
I ought never to act except in such a way that I can also will that my maxim should become a universal law
= immoral acts are acts that would be impossible or unreasonable if everyone were to act similarly
What does categorical mean?
absolute
What does imperative mean?
command necessary to follow
What does maxim mean?
moral rule
What does universal law mean?
word for a moral rule applied to everyone
Give an example of how to apply the categorical imperative.
Ex. You are late for work and driving through town. You come up to a stop light that is red. There is no one around. Do you proceed?
Whenever it is beneficial to me to run a red light, I will.
If universalized, this act would not be reasonable. Why? Because if everyone disobeyed traffic signals, the traffic signals would serve no purpose and therefore there wouldn’t be any traffic signals.
Kant offered a different way of describing the categorical imperative - what was it?
to treat people as ends and not means only, respect their rationality
If someone says, “but what if everyone where to act like that,” are they articulating the categorical imperative?
not really, they are asking us to imagine how people would behave instead of whether it is reasonable or possible for people to actually behave that way
From a deontological perspective, are there conditions or exceptions to moral rules?
no - if something is right it is always right
From a deontological perspective, is the act the only important thing?
no - there is a difference between acting according to duty and acting from duty, the intention matters
What does it mean to treat someone as an end?
- it means to treat them as rational, as valuable, and not to treat them as tools or means to achieve your goals or purposes
- it means to treat them in a way that acknowledges their rationality, if you were to explain your behaviour they would deem it reasonable and give you consent
How do we apply deontology?
- identify the maxim (the moral rule)
- universalize the maxim
- determine whether the universalized maxim could be a universal law (not whether it should, but whether it could)
What are some objections to deontology?
- Kant doesn’t give us any guidance for what to do when different duties conflict
- what about kids and animals? they aren’t considered rational individuals
- what about consequences? (ex. Nazi case… for a strict deontologist lying is wrong, lying to the Nazi disrespects his rationality, but it will get everyone killed)
