Kantian Ethics Flashcards
What was true enlightenment for Kant
For him true enlightenment is about living according to our own unfettered reason, a state of true autonomy (the belief we are self directed things and the centre of our own worlds and making our own free choices) and not to live unthinkingly by the dictates of others
Heteronymous
Ones life that I’d not fully their own
What does Kant say about goals
He says ‘A goal is an object of free choice’
How can you summarise Kant’s argument about goals
We know we have goals which we make for ourselves and we know ourselves to be the ones who both choose these goals and decide not to achieve the. This makes us freely choosing persons and from this we can see we are autonomous
For him why are there errors in moral thinking
He thinks errors in moral thinking come from heteronymous approaches like obedience to moral laws laid out by others.
What did Kant believe was the only moral law we should follow
That which is knowable by (pure) reason and for that reason to flourish it must be absolutely free of coercion and only in that way can it work as pure reason
What does reason give us the ability to do
It gives is the ability to reflect on ourselves and in ourselves we find awareness of what needs to be done. Reason allows us to recognise the centrality of duty
What does Kant mean by duty
He means doing what we ought to do as we have a sense of obligation to perform certain actions like telling the truth, obeying legitimate instructions and doing good
What is Kant’s view on free will
He believes we all have free will and therefore we should use this free will in the best way possible which means to use it for good
What problem does Kant identify with trying to use free will for good
That we do not not know how people will react in the future and whether actions have the results we intend
How does Kant look to resolve the problem of free will
He argues that what matters is that we should will the good regardless of the outcome
What is the only good thing in Kant’s view and what quote backs this up
Kant argues the only good thing is good will. ‘There is no possibility at all of thinking of anything in the world or outside of it that can be considered good without qualification except good will’. He believed at best incidents can be incidentally good but good will is never incidentally good rather always good irrespective of outcome
What example does Kant give for something that is incidentally good
Suppose a shopkeeper is honest in all his dealing and never shorts weight or charges extortionate prices he might do this because it is good for business so that he retains customers and in this case the shopkeeper is doing his duty because it will lead to good results achieving the right outcome. He is doing what he should but it isn’t praiseworthy as he is honest because it it his duty and for no other reason
What can Kant’s view be described as
Deontological - a theory whereby the goodness of an act is not dependent on the outcome but the act itself
Does Kant completely disregard outcomes
He doesn’t because in order to determine ones duty one does think of outcome
What name can be given to this deontological theory
An absolutist theory as the command to do ones duty is invariable
What does Kant acknowledge about people’s goals in life
That we have various goals and they aren’t necessarily shared by others and aren’t distinctively moral for example the goal of becoming a lawyer. There is no moral obligation to become this
What is a hypothetical imperative
He draws back on the example of wanting to become a lawyer, I would have to take certain steps like studying law and sitting exams and getting into university. These things I am obliged to do are imperatives
What marks a hypothetical imperative
The grammar ‘if…then…’ tells me what I must do to achieve certain goals and this marks the hypothetical imperative
What name does Kant give to that which I must do
Categorical imperative
What is the categorical imperative
That which I and everyone else must do. In Kant’s view this is striving to be good, reason insists I must have good will and that this is absolute and exception less and is not dependent on what I wish and isn’t different for other people
What does the categorical imperative consist of
Three forms
What is the first form of the categorical imperative sometimes referred to
The principle of universalisation
What is the first form of the categorical imperative explained by Kant
He argues we should act on a maxim that we are willing to follow as a law and at the same time have that law apply to everyone
What example does Kant give for the first form of the categorical imperative
Suppose I want to steal for my neighbour I should think whether I want my neighbour to steal from me and whether I want everyone to steal from their neighbours. A rational person would say no and therefore I shouldn’t steal from my neighbour
What problem is posed to the first form of the categorical imperative
Kant uses a narrow range of examples to develop his point, deception, theft, suicide, laziness, charity and cruelty to animals
What objection can be posed from the problem with the first form of the categorical imperative
If I marry my wife surely I do not wish the whole world to marry my wife, I may not even be sure I want the whole adult world to marry and I wouldn’t want someone like joe smith hung in 1915 for the murder of three wives to marry. So by Kant’s logic to marry would be immoral because I am not willing to encourage everyone to marry
What further objection to the first form of the categorical imperative is posed by Aquinas
Not every action can be universalised and remain moral, he gives the example of debt ‘it would be harmful to repay debt if it was then used to wage war on one’s country’. The same can be said about telling the truth, should I still tell the truth if I know someone will be hurt because of it.
What is the second form of the categorical imperative sometimes referred to
The principle of the priority of ends
What is the second form of the categorical imperative
Argues we should treat everyone’s as ends rather than means
What example does Kant give for the second form of the categorical imperative
If a business owner is solely interested in the profits of his company then he will do things like drive worker’s wages down and not care about them and simply think of them as tools, in this way they are being used as means and not ends
What is an example of a problem drawn from the second form of the categorical imperative
In 1941 world war 2 the Enigma codes of the Germans were broken and Churchill uncovered that they were planning to bomb Covent Garden. Churchill was then left with an impossible decision of deciding whether to move everyone from the area and therefore alerting the Germans that their code had been broken which would lead to many more casualties in the long term as they changed the code. Or to leave the people in the area and keep the knowledge they have of the Enigma codes. In this example if the people had been moved out of the area then the significant number of later casualties are being treated as means as the ends for the people that got moved. If the people were left there then they act as means as the ends for the later casualties
What is the third form of the categorical imperative
This argues that ‘every rational being must act if through his universalised maxim he were always a legislating member in the universal kingdom of ends’. What he means is we should act as if our actions made laws for everyone else and everyone else acted in the same way
What example is given of the third form of the categorical imperative
If I give my aunt a present I should do so with the acceptance that I am committing to the idea that everyone should give their aunt’s presents
What does Kant think of personal immortality
He believes in personal immortality and that after we die we live on in the afterlife
How many postulates are there for Kant and what are they
For Kant there are three postulates of practical reason: that we are free beings, that we are immortal and that god exists
What is a postulate
a principle so obvious it needs no further explanation and it can be taken as an assumption
How does he explain his first postulate (we are free beings)
For him freedom is connected to his view that we are fully rational beings and know what our duty is therefore when we make a moral decision we acknowledge our freedom
What is his logic for immortality and existence of god
- rationally perfect virtue ought to be rewarded by perfect happiness
- The combination of perfect happiness and perfect goodness is the ‘summum bonum’
- therefore because summum bonum ought to be achieved it can be achieved
- this is not achieved in this life as good things can happen to bad people and bad things to the good
- if it is not achievable in this life it must be in the next which means we are immortal
- if summum bonum exists in the next life there must be someone to provide it and that someone is god
What is true virtuosity in Kant’s view
Kant argues that an immortal reward ought to follow a virtuous life but to be truly virtuous we should be it for its own sake not for the reward because then we are not truly virtuous
What controversy arises around Kant’s logic for immortality and god
Controversy is centred around the assumption that ought implies can. If I told you ought to be kind to your mother and you had no mother the common we would be nonsense
What is the counter argument for the controversy around the assumption that ought implies can
In Kant’s moral argument there is a different use of the word ought. It is an ought of what should exist not the ought of duty as ought has many meanings. If I say they ought to be recompensed I am expressing a wish and not saying that they will receive justice
Objection 1 to Kantian ethics (duty)
If we should do the right thing because it is our duty and for no other reason and if there is no direct moral merit then giving to charity would not be true in itself and rather be cold charity because the giver is no giving with pleasure for that would not be truly virtuous but this then takes away from the act of charity in itself because charity it no just that something is given but how it is given, with a generous heart.
Quote from Aristotle in support of objection 1
‘It is not enough to do the right and to be truly moral one must do so with the right attitude’
Objection 2 to Kant (universe)
Kant’s attitude to the universe presupposes that it is a rational entity. It may be rational to think that virtue is rewarded and that everyone is rewarded and is capable of rational behaviour but this is not necessarily always the case. The world may just be here by brute fact and without any reason and what ought to be may not necessarily be
