Kantian deontological ethics

Question 1

What were Kant’s 2 most famous works?

Answer 1

Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785)

Critique of Practical Reason (1788)

Question 2

According to Kant, what makes something morally right?

Answer 2

Doing it for the right reason

Question 3

According to Kant, what is the source of moral worth?

Answer 3

Goodwill.

Question 4

What is a good will?

Answer 4

One which acts for the sake of duty.

Question 5

What is moral duty?

Answer 5

The necessity of acting out of reverence for the moral law.

Question 6

What is the categorical imperative (universal law formulation)?

Answer 6

Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law without contradiction.

Question 7

What is the categorical imperative (the humanity formulation)?

Answer 7

Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end.

Question 8

What makes acting on a maxim always wrong?

Answer 8

If you cannot conceive of a world where this maxim is a law.

Question 9

What makes acting on a maxim sometimes wrong?

Answer 9

If you cannot rationally will that this will be a universal moral law.

Question 10

What makes an action morally permissible?

Answer 10

If you can
a) conceive of a world in which this maxim is a law
and
b) rationally will that it be a universal moral law.

Question 11

Why can no end be good in itself, according to Kant?

Answer 11

We typically seek to pursue ends which we consider to be “good”: happiness, pleasure, knowledge, etc. However, these ends can often include “bad” means: eg. one might find pleasure in murder. Thus, no end can be good in itself, however they can be good if accompanied by or resultant from good will.

Question 12

What is the source of good?

Answer 12

Good will.

Question 13

Criticism: Is a good will always good?

Answer 13

1. It can seem circular to say that a good will is good.
2. It is not obvious that a good will is always good.
   eg. One could attempt to help someone out of good will or because they consider it a duty, however, acting on this could cause harm. Thus, although acting on a good will, the action can nonetheless be negative and there is uncertainty as to whether an action that harms people which is bought about as a result of good will can really be good.

Question 14

According to Kant, how do humans differ from animals?

Answer 14

According to Kant, humans are imperfectly rational beings.

Like animals, humans have instincts and base desires, however unlike animals we are also capable of reason.

Question 15

What does Kant mean by “imperfectly rational”?

Answer 15

Humans are a mixture of reason and desire.

Question 16

What roles do rationality and desire play in decision making?

Answer 16

Rationality (reason) reveals moral laws that we have a duty to follow, and the rational part of us reveals how we should behave morally.
Our desires, when combined with reason, tell us how we should behave non-morally.
Our desires give us goals that we then aim to achieve.

Question 17

Why does Kant take issue with acting on desires?

Answer 17

Acting from desires is out of self-interest. Self-interested motives are subjective; particular to the individual; and sometimes in conflict with the interests of others.
Kant takes greatest issue with the subjectivity of moral actions: he believed that moral laws, much like scientific laws, are objective; universalizable; and discoverable by reason, not desire.

Question 18

Why would a perfectly rational being always do the right thing?

Answer 18

Because it would never act on desire and therefore always act on duty.

Question 19

What would happen if we always acted on out desires?

Answer 19

If we always acted on desire, we would often do the wrong thing, and when we did occasionally do the right thing it would be by accident and therefore have no moral value.

Question 20

How does duty come into being?

Answer 20

There is an internal conflict within humans over acting from desire and acting from rationale. The fact that this tension exists creates the possibility for duty to arise. We have a duty to do the right thing regardless of our desires for the end of the action, and if an action is carried out on the basis of this then it is morally correct.

Question 21

Why would a perfectly rational being not do the right thing out of duty?

Answer 21

A perfectly rational being would not experience the conflict between rationality and desire and therefore they would do the right thing because they have rationally concluded that it is the right thing, as opposed to because they feel a sense of duty which has arisen from conflict between rationality and desire.

Question 22

How do humans gain autonomy?

Answer 22

Humans’ ability to reason and act