Kant on the universal law formulation of the Categorical Imperative

Question 1

kinds of psychological motivators

Answer 1

• Acting because one regards the action as a means to desired ends
• Action from immediate inclination
• Acting from the sense of moral duty

Question 2

maxims

Answer 2

• Kant holds that when one of these motivators causes us to act, we can think of our having the motivation in question as determining our “maxim” in acting
• A principle describing what one is doing in acting and why one is doing

Question 3

autonomy

Answer 3

Kant thinks that morally worthy action is the only intrinsic good because everything else can be used for evil ends just as easily as for good ones

Question 4

intrinsic goodness

Answer 4

Kant thinks that morally worthy action - acting from a concern to do what is one’s moral duty - is the only intrinsic good.

Question 5

Kant on moral worth

Answer 5

X’s doing A has moral worth if X morally ought to do A, and X is motivated to do A by the thought that he morally ought to do A, and whatever other motives for doing A may also have, X would do A even if he had not had them

Question 6

duty and moral worth

Answer 6

• Kant believes that managing to do what morality requires isn’t enough for one’s action to have what he calls “moral worth”
• One must perform the act because one’s maxim is moral duty.
• He thus distinguishes between
  ○ The question whether X has a moral duty to do A
  ○ The question whether X’s act has “moral worth”

Question 7

perfect and imperfect duties

Answer 7

• You have a perfect duty to avoid those actions whose maxims involve a contradiction in conception.
  ○ Ex. avoid telling lies, do not commit suicide
  
  • You have an imperfect duty to avoid those actions whose maxims involve a contradiction in willing.
    Ex. aid others, develop one’s natural talents

Question 8

hypothetical imperatives

Answer 8

Hypothetical imperatives tell you what to do given that you want some end

Question 9

“his of skills”

Answer 9

Apply only to those who want some particular end (ex. to be a doctor, study medicine)

Question 10

“his of prudence”

Answer 10

Apply to all those who want happiness

Question 11

categorical imperatives

Answer 11

an unconditional moral obligation which is binding in all circumstances and is not dependent on a person’s inclination or purpose

Question 12

universal law formulation

Answer 12

“Act only on that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it become a universal law”

Question 13

kant’s ethical theory

Answer 13

• X’s doing A is morally permissible if X can will without contradiction that everybody act on his maxim M.
• X’s doing A is morally impermissible if X cannot will without contradiction that everybody act on his maxim M.
• The idea is that morality requires that we not make exceptions for ourselves, that we act in such a way that we can without contradiction conceive of everyone else acting in the same way

Question 14

the problem of specificity

Answer 14

• Kant’s lying promise case. He says that the maxim “I will make a lying promise in order to receive a loan” fails the test set out by the Universal Law formulation of the Categorical Imperative.

Question 15

other formulations of the categorical imperative

Answer 15

• The end-in-itself (or humanity) formulation
  ○ “Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end.”
• The kingdom of ends formulation
  ○ “Act always so as to aid in bringing about the kingdom of ends (i.e. a society in which all relate to each other as ends-in-themselves under common laws)