Fred Feldman: "Chapter 7: Kant I” Fred Feldman: "Chapter 9: Kant II”

Question 1

What is the “Good Will” according to Kant?

Answer 1

The only thing good without qualification; acting from duty for the sake of duty.

Question 2

What distinguishes morally right acts from morally wrong ones in Kantian ethics?

Answer 2

Right acts are done from duty with the right motive; wrong acts violate duty; “empty” acts are done for selfish motives, even if they align with duty.

Question 3

What is Kant’s First Formulation of the Categorical Imperative?

Answer 3

Act only on that maxim which you can will to become a universal law.

Question 4

What is Kant’s Second Formulation of the Categorical Imperative?

Answer 4

Act to treat humanity, in yourself and others, always as an end and never merely as a means.

Question 5

What does “universalization” mean in Kant’s ethics?

Answer 5

It is the test of whether a maxim can be universally applied without contradiction.

Question 6

What does it mean to treat someone as a “means” vs. an “end”?

Answer 6

As a means: using them for your purposes; as an end: respecting their rational will and autonomy.