Immanuel kant Flashcards
The Principle of Utility
Is the way to calculate morality.
Kanthan ethics - explain
Immanuel Kant’s moral philosophy is an example of deontological or duty based ethics; it determines the morality of an action by primarily considering the nature and motive behind the act itself, rather than its consequences. He stated that all moral requirements derive from a standard form of rationality, known as the “Categorical Imperative” (CI). Thus as immorality involves a violation of the CI, it is therefore irrational. The most fundamental CI that Kant proposes, is the principle that others must always be the primary concern governing our actions. He suggests that people must always be the end and never merely the means, as disregarding this CI would be a violation of a persons rational autonomy. Kant additionally stated that a person is only acting morally when acting out of respect for duty and not out of the desire to benefit from acting dutifully.
Assessing Kantian Ethics
According to Kantian Ethics, the consequences of an action are irrelevant, the moral standing that motivates the action is of sole importance. Kant proposes the use of his Categorical Imperative, when determining the morality of an action.Which contains three fundamental principles: the first being the maxim of universalisability. In which he suggests that one’s duty, as well as the morality of an action, can be established by asking the question: “would I wish for everyone to do as I am proposing to do in these circumstances”? He stated that to act on principle of universalisability, one must “Act only on the maxim whereby you can, at the same time will that t become a universal law”.
Principle of universalisability, one must…
“Act only on the maxim whereby you can, at the same time will that t become a universal law”
Second CI - The Golden Rule
One should “Act in such a way that one always treats humanity, whether in our own person or the person of another never simply as a means but always as an ends”.
