Quiz #2 Flashcards
What is Kant’s rule?
The Categorial Imperative - a command that applies under all conditions
“Act so that you treat humanity… in that of another as an end and never as a means only”
What does “Ends and Means” imply?
To treat someone as a tool for achieving your ends, this strips them of their humanity, you stop seeing them as individuals with their own life goals and rationality. You are using them to satisfy your desires=immoral
What is Humanity?
Inclinations that move us to act (instrints and hormonal influences arising from a sense of pleasure/pain).
Kant believes we are dual nature - inclinations and rational dimensions “our reason has the potential to govern our inclinations”
Reason - logic, it’s what separates humans from the animal kingdom
Reason = Rationality = Logic
Humanity /= People = Rationality
Why has Kant defined morality as he has?
5 concepts:
1) Freewill - Actions of our choosing using the functional area of the brain that makes decisions (pre-frontal cortex)
- Determinism (chemicals/god controls us)
2) Inclinations - what motivates human behaviour (addicts), character flaws.
3) Reason - we have the ability to engage reason and decide whether to take action on an inclination or not.
4) Autonomy - we can determine our own actions. Makes us moral creates. Humanity ~ Rationality ~ Autonomy
5) Universal Worthiness - summum bonus - something that everyone wants! Most desires are contingent. But Logic-> FREEWILL everyone wants
We have a will that uses solely logic and is truly free of body chemistry/pre-destiny. Rationality can free us of the instinctif animal side and makes us autonomous different from animals.
How can we apply Kant’s Rule?
Ex 1 - Suicide - no, you are destroying the one thing of value -rationality “You don’t kill anyone, because you kill that person’s rationality”
Ex 2 - Lying - no - uses other human beings has a means, interfering with rationality, short circuiting the reasoning process.
Ex 3 - Self-improvement - need to exercise rationality, need to take a actions to “harmonize” - self improvement is critical
Ex 4 - Beneficence - Rationality can subsist in others if no one nurtures it, but that is a negative and minimalistic perspective. We are morally obliged to help others when we are able to
What are duties? How can they be defined?
Duties are something you must do/ must not do. Duties can be positive or negative and strict or broad.
- For Kant - positive duties are always broad “help others” and negative duties are always narrow “Don’t lie”
Summaries the three levels of rules.
High Level rule (very abstract)
- Act so that you treat humanity.. in that of another as ana end and never as a means only
Mid Level rule
- 1) Respect the humanity in others by not interfering with the capacity for rational though and choice
- 2) Respect the humanity in others by promoting their capacity for rational though and choice
Low Level rule (very concrete)
* Do not commit suicide or lie (Kant)*
Do not kill, coerce, manipulate, or deceive (Frooman)
Do contribute to charity, develop yourself ( Kant)
Help children and the underprivileged with basic necessities and cultivate rationality (Frooman)
How does Kantian thinking analysis work?
- Low level - “what action is being questioned” which and how? Does it involve killing coercion, manipulation, deception?
- Mid level - contemplated action will interfere with people’s capacity for rational thought or choice
- High level - the action is immoral because it interferes with rationality of others and violates the CI
Explain some “holes” in Kant’s thinking?
The “Problem of Santa Claus” - it’s a lie, but children do not yet understand cause and effect, are technically not rational yet. BUt Kant would still disagree as this lie does not promote rationality in others and help them in anyway.
The “Trolley car Dilemma” - pushing the human, dehumanizes him as he has the capability to make decisions for himself. Kantiens disregard outcomes and would rather stand on good principle - CI
- for the CPR example in canadian courts if you injure someone while actively trying to save them with good intentions then you would be put in jail.
Example capitalism briefly
• Adam Smith and Milton Freidman
• The rule - “Take those actions that maximize shareholder wealth, provided you remain within the rules of the game”
◦ Shareholder wealth = owners
◦ The game - exchange in the market
◦ The rules - (no manipulation of price, No manipulation of demand(deception, incomplete information), no manipulation of supply (restricting the number of suppliers, amount supplied, linking suppliers or goods together))
What are some of the harms of capitalism?
- Buy something you don’t really want, 2. Paying higher price for something they do want
Briefly explain supply and demand
◦ When D>S then P goes up
◦ When S> D, then P goes down
◦ When D=S then P stays the same
◦ Natural Price, Ordinary profits, extraordinary profits
What is capitalism? What does it do? Who does it? What are submarkets?
• What it is: A method of arranging production and exchange of goods and services, a socio-political economic system
• What it does: maximize preference satisfaction, consumers express preferences by what they trade for, tries to optimize satisfaction system wide, not neccesarily indidivudeally
• Who “does it: suppliers, demanders and coordinators
• Submarkets: firms operate in multiple sub markets within the market - capitalism applies to all these.
