Issues and criticisms Flashcards
What is the issue of only focusing on intention when evaluating the moral worth of an action?
Using the Analogy of Billy used by Daniel Cardinal. Billy has the best of intentions, and only tries to act according to duty. However, he keeps messing everything up.
What is the issue of conflicting duties?
Clashing imperfect/perfect duties: Perfect stumps. However, think about the axeman.
What about clashing imperfect duties? - Kant says contradiction means they cannot be duties in the first place, and some argue this is the complexity of life.
What is the issue of the moral value of consequences?
the axeman scenario:
through Kant, we should say that we should tell the truth to the axeman.
This keeps you lawfully innocent. We also have to have influence over our sphere of control.
This may be seen as ignorant.
What is the issue of the value of other kinds of motivation: Friendship, kindness…?
Parent A and B scenario. Kant states we should like parent A, gives a cold and calculates approach to ethics.
Bernard Williams claims ethics cannot be impartial, and therefore can never have a unified interest.
What is the issue concerning some universalisable maxims not being moral?
Chew food 30 times to aid digestion. Doesn’t this just create a list of commandments.
The maxim rule applies to morally neutral actions as well as morally good actions.
What is the issue concerning some non-universalisable maxims not being immoral?
Do not put Halloween candy out to save money.
This would lead to a contradiction, but does not necesarily have any moral implications. Merely suggestions surrounding cultural conventions.
Kant can also apply to courtesy as well as morality.
What is Kant’s response to the issue of clashing duties.
Clashing perfect/ imeprfect = do the perfect thing.
Clashing imperfect = Allow for moral judgement. If they compete, they may not be duties at all, because they contain contradiction.
What is Kant’s response to the issue of not focusing on moral consequences?
Axeman scenario. We need to focus on our sphere os influence.
What is Kant’s resposne to the issue of not factoring other motivations?
He has none?
What is Kant’s response to the issue of some trivial maxims being universalisable?
Some actions can be morally neutral.
What is Kant’s response to the issue of some non-universalizable maxims not being immoral?
We can’t create proportional maxims, as they lead to contradiction and therefore cannot be correct duties by definition.
