Kantian/deontological ethics Flashcards
What is the categorical imperative?
“Act only on the maxim you can at the same time will to become a universal law” -Kant
Hypothetical imperative (conditional)
If you want Y, then you ought to do X
Categorical imperative (unconditional)
You ought to do X, period
Principal of universalizability
An action is morally permissible if and only if the maxim of the action is universalizable
What is retrospective?
Backward-looking
What is prospective?
Forward-looking
The insanity defense
Lawyers try to plead not guilty saying defendant is insane because
1. they didn’t know what they were doing
2. they didn’t know what they did was wrong
The case of Kenneth Parks
Drove to inlaws house in the middle of the night, killed them, was arrested and charged with murder, turns out he was sleepwalking, therefore, not found guilty
The case of Andrea Yates
Killed children by drowning them in bathtub, suffered from severe depression, arrested and charged, ultimately found not guilty by reason of insanity
The principle of humanity
An action is morally permissible if and only if the people to whom the action is directed are treated not merely as means, but also as ends; requires rationality and autonomy
Consent criterion
To treat someone as an end is to treat that person in such way that they could freely consent to that treatment, at least in principle
Trolley problem (DE)
It is wrong to push person off bridge because you are using them as a mere ends
The problem of moral luck (DE)
- According to Kantian ethics, the morality of an action depends only on factors within the agent’s control
