Kant's Ethical Equation

Kant introduce a method to determine whether or not the ethical system would be considered to be morally right, morally wrong, or somewhere beyond the moral realm (Guthrie, S., 2001). His source for moral justification was the categorical imperative. An imperative is considered to have two option; hypothetical or categorical. Kant speculation was if the action is good only as a means to something else, then the imperative is hypothetical; if it was considered as good in itself and resulting as being the principle of a will which of itself conforms to reason, then it is categorical (Guthrie, S., 2001). His thoughts concluded that in order for an act to be categorically imperative, it must be thought to be good in itself and in conformity to reason on whether or not we can "universalize" our actions, where others would act in accordance with the same rule in a similar circumstance (Guthrie, S. …show more content…
For example, one of Kant’s cases demonstrated ethical antinomy if a man desire to take his own life he had two dilemmas to take his own life due to his own disappointment or face his ongoing situation (Guthrie, S., 2001). Kant stated, “If someone feels like they are in despair; it leads them to improve their life” (Guthrie, S., 2001). If he choose to take his own life, he will be universalizing the maximum, “In order to love myself, I must take my life” (Guthrie, S., 2001). In this maximum it is contradicting due to the consequent works opposite to the antecedent meaning if you kill yourself it does nothing to improve your life (Guthrie, S., 2001). From that perspective categorical imperative is used as a test for general moral principle to determine it owns general maximum (Guthrie, S., 2001). Also, categorical imperative provides guidance to follow regardless of one’s goals or ambition. The categorical imperative is the guiding principle of morality; it determines if an act is right or wrong based off of its underlying principle (Guthrie,