Kant Formula Of Morality Analysis

In “Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals,” Immanuel Kant developed a philosophy of morality that was considered “pure” philosophy, a philosophy that was completely independent of subjective personal experience or perception. In that work, Kant presents the idea that ethical decisions should be based on a priori reasoning which is a type of reasoning that is based on logical observations, not experiences. Kant breaks these actions into the categories of good will and categorical imperatives, which he further analyzes through the lens of the formulas for universal law and humanity. Through the development of these concepts, Kant creates a way to understand moral values and arrive at a universal set of maxims through use of reason. Kant says, …show more content…
The first formulation is the Formula of Universal Law which, according to Kant, is that one should “Act only on that maxim by which at the same time, you can will it should become a universal law,” (Kant, 30). For example, a person can form the maxim of “Lying is universally wrong”. If everyone assumes that lying in immoral, and one should always tell the truth even in the worst of situations, then Kant believes that this maxim helps maintain a moral society. The maxim assumes that everyone is telling the truth and from that foundation an acceptable moral behavior is created. Kant urges the application of the categorical imperatives to everyday decisions. By doing so, each person can think through what could happen if any personal maxim is applied universally. For example, we can take a scenario involving a person named Random Joe. Random Joe is approached by a neighbor who asks if he can help him move. Random Joe is tired and doesn’t want to help. Random Joe doesn’t know the neighbor very well and thinks that it won’t really matter if he helps or not, so he decides to lie and say that he is incredibly busy and can’t possibly …show more content…
Let’s think about this for a minute.” Kant and the Formula of Universal Law urge Joe to imagine a situation in which the desire to lie is a universal law or maxim. Through that imagined scenario, Joe can test if the desire to lie to his neighbor is moral or not. Joe thinks about it for a minute and comes up with this maxim: Everyone should lie if they want out of an obligation. Initially, the maxim seems benign and it helps Joe out when he needs it. If Joe applies this maxim universally, though, then the entire world begins to lie in order to get out of any and all annoying situations. A potential outcome might be that people could no longer trust each other, and language could eventually become meaningless. With the Formula of Universal Law, we can see that even though it is easier for Joe to lie to get out of an obligation, in the long run, it would be better for him to simply tell the truth without worrying about the