Kant’s Deontological Ethics Flashcards
What is it to be human, that Kant claimed?
To be is human, is to have be a ‘rational agent’ (have reason).
What does reason tell us about humans?
That we are all equal - we should only act on principles that can be followed by everyone.
What is a categorical imperative?
Something we should always do, our duty.
It is an unconditional ought.
You should do X.
What is a hypothetical imperative?
A moral action that a rational will adopts for reasons other than duty, e.g. desire.
It is a conditional ought.
You should do X if you want Y.
What can true morality & duty (universal moral law) not depend on?
Our desires - it must be categorical.
What do the three formulations of the categorical imperative serve as criteria for?
The rightness/wrongness of an action.
Explain the first formulation of categorical imperative.
Universalisability
‘Act only according to that maxim by which you could at the same time will it become a universal law’
- Test of universalisability
This removes consequences & personal feelings from consideration.
Explain the second formulation of categorical imperative.
Person as Ends
‘Always treat persons, whether others or in yourself, always as an end, never as a means.’
Meaning, essentially, don’t use people or abuse yourself.
All rational agents (humans) have their own ‘ends’ (goals), & are ends in themselves.
Explain the third formulation of categorical imperative.
Kingdom of Ends
Act as if you were making laws for a kingdom that treated persons as ends in themselves.
What is Kant’s concept of the Good Will?
A Good will is the determination/intention to act in accordance with the moral law, or universal moral law, and without regard to personal gain.
We should do our ‘duty for duty’s sake’.
What is a postulate?
Something you have to assume to be true in order to have a basis for reasoning about something.
If ethics is to be based on reason, what are the three postulates we have to assume to be true?
- God
- Immortality (of the soul in an afterlife)
- Free will (in order for responsibility)
Why must there be a God in order for there to be justice?
Where some good people are not always rewarded in life, there must be a God who lets us into an afterlife where good people are reward with happiness - the summum bonum.
What is the summum bonum?
The highest good.
Where virtue meets its appropriate reward of perfect happiness.
What does ‘ought implies can’ mean?
If something is our duty then we must be capable of doing it.
