Kantian Ethics Flashcards
For Kant what is morality?
Reason put into practice.
What does a priori synthetic mean?
Gained through knowledge but tested in the real world.
How is knowledge gained?
Through reason and logic.
Tested in the real world.
What is the highest form of good?
The innate moral law within us.
When we follow our duty we are acting out of what?
Good will.
Kant believed that we choose to follow our duty. This makes us….?
Autonomous
Why doesn’t Kant like following rules?
He believes that by following rules we are not following our duty. Something is only moral if we freely choose to do it.
What leads to morality and therefore the summum bonum?
Reason and duty.
Not rules given by God.
What does Kant use to test whether an action is moral or not?
The 3 pronged test.
What is the word for the command that to want to test whether it is moral or not?
A maxim.
What is the first point on the 3 pronged test?
Universalisation
What does universalisation mean?
Only carry out an action that you are happy for everyone else to do the same (in every situation) must not contradict law of life.
What is the second point on the 3 pronged test?
Treat people as ends not means.
What does the second point on the 3 pronged test mean?
Treat people as you would want to be treated. Treat people for what they are not what you can get from them.
What is the last point on the 3 pronged test?
Act as a law making member of the kingdom of ends.
What does it mean to act as a law making member of the kingdom of ends?
To imagine a society where people are rational and act out of duty. In a perfect world would the maxim Work?
If a maxim passes the 3 pronged test, what does it become?
A categorical imperative (the only moral action/ command)
If a categorical imperative is the only moral command.. what is an immoral command?
A hypothetical imperative. If you do X you will achieve Y. You do an action to achieve an outcome. E.g. Utilitarianism.
What is the summum bonum?
The supreme good.
Explain what the summum bonum is. And where it exists.
It is a type of reward. That can’t exist on earth as suffering and evil exist. And good deeds aren’t always rewarded. And so this type of reward must be in the afterlife.
How do we achieve the summum bonum?
Had rewards us as he is omnipotent and omnibenevolent.
What are the 3 postulates (principles) that make him sure of the summum bonum?
- Freedom
- Immortality
- God
