Kantian Ethics AO2 and Essay Plans

Question 1

Strengths of Kantian Ethics

Answer 1

• seeks to raise the status of the human beings and avoids selfish rule making.
• human beings have unconditional worth, so never treated as a means to an end- match feeling many have that life is precious, Judeo Christian sanctity of life.
• strong emphasis on what is going on inside the person making a moral decision, serving duty rather than external pressured- morality is not something determined by emotions.
• categorical imperative is supposed to prevent bad moral maxims from being made.
• a system of ethics based on ethics could easily dissolve into justifications of selfish conducts- Kant avoids this.
• doesnt involves religion.
• aims to create a better world.
• If justice was based on emotion it would not be a fair application of the law- corrupted.
• absolutist, simple, easy e.g

Question 2

Weaknesses of Kantian Ethics

Answer 2

• no response to conflict between helping one person or another, e.g. Limited supplies in natural disaster.
• imperative of lying in dire situations e.g. Concealing of jews during ww2
• views not including emotions idealised view of moral action and moral motivation- too idealised.
• not clear on what duty might be- feel torn by pressured or choosing between two undesirable alternatives- any inner personal struggle to follow duty.
• Following the categorical imperatives looks at consequences, Stuart miLL
• Kant unrealistic about the expectations he places on people.
• So reliant on reason it unduly rejects the importance of other factors, such as sympathy, empathy, love.
• use of reason is too corrupt, Karl Barth
• absolutist- John Mackie: our cultural values come from our experiences.
• opposes utilitarianism by not looking at a weakness.
• cultural diversity, Kai Neilsen

Question 3

Strengths of Idealism in Kantian Ethics

Answer 3

• Kant makes a strongly idealised ethical principle, it searches for the universal truth of what is required of human beings in difficult moral situations.
• Kant bases his entire theory upon an ideal world , where happiness and duty are united. This ideal means that by following Kant’s theory it is applicable and relevant to the decisions made by an entire society, not just individuals.

Question 4

Weaknesses of Idealism in Kantian Ethics

Answer 4

• as it is based on ideals, it also seems to work most efficiently in ideal situations, and not necessarily in realistic situations- an example of this is the problems of resource management in ethical environments, such as in hospitals- Kant’s theory doesn’t seem to account for the fact that many people find themselves in mean there are no good acts available to them
• Kant also has an ideal decision maker in mind, he asks for people, to remove their emotions from the decision making process. Although for a minority of people this is possible, many people will struggle to do this, impeding the efficiency of Kant’s theory.
• It seems that Kant has attempted to search for what is true, not necessarily for what works- we should only seek to interpret and explain what happens.

Question 5

Strengths of Duty in Kantian Ethics

Answer 5

• The idea of having an ethical system where ones only motivation to action is the following of duty provides a clear and consistently applicable principle from which people can be expected to act. This consistency, and appeal to reason means that people will never make an impulsive, unjustified or impure decision.
• The purity of motives is a key part of true morality; how can i be a good person if i do things for bad reasons ? As such it is far easier to remove all motivations, other than there consistent and just duty to the universal law.
• Finally, with duty, especially to an abstract concept such has the eternal law, there can be no confusion based upon mixed or conflicting motives, duty is both rational and the only motivation needed.

Question 6

Weaknesses of Duty in Kantian Ethics

Answer 6

• The concept of acting out of duty means that you often go against people’s inclinations to do what is right, this means that many of these actions will be made grudginly and may be accompanied with feelings of loathing or spite to the one you are helping. How can an act like this make someone more moral than acting out of emotion, but is it being genuine?
• Duty also means that one is not able to consider the happiness of those involved, would i live a fulfilling life if i only called to what I am called to do, and never once considered the happiness of others.
• Can it be possible for mercy to be shown in Kantian Ethics? As by doing so i would be placing the happiness of the defendant above my duty to follow the eternal law, and according punishments.

Question 7

Strengths of the Categorical Imperative

Answer 7

• It provides a clear and universally applicable structures with which you can ascertain the rightness of a maxim, and whether it should be applied within moral dilemmas.
• Furthermore, The C.I requires laws to be universally applicable, this means that, if approved, laws carry the moral weight of being unconditionally right, in every circumstance.
• Finally the CI ensures that the basic worth many people feel human beings have is respected and enshrined within the laws it creates, allowing the world to move towards a more just and fair future.

Question 8

Weaknesses of the Categorical Imperative

Answer 8

• The claim that the CI is applicable to every situation is countered by Hegel, he claims that when attempting to ascertain wether an economic system based on private or state ownership is just or not, the C.I suggest that either or neither is morally right.
• The claim that the laws approved by the CI are at all applicable in the long term is questioned by Hegel’s example of the poor, if everyone was to help the poor the they saw them, soon there would be no poor people and so, if giving to the poor would be universalised it would soon become impossible and people could not fulfil their duty.
• The CI requires a belief in a deity to have any commanding power