Immanuel Kant's Groundworks For The Meta-Physics Of Morals

“All moral concepts have their origin entirely a priori in reason.” (pg.17) This quote found in eighteenth-century philosopher Immanuel Kant 's work Groundworks for the Meta-physics of Morals, provides a summary in itself for the approach Kant takes in his deontological interpretation of ethics. Deontological ethics, differs from a teleological approach to ethics where the end or consequence of an action is valued more than the action itself. Adversely, deontological ethics emphasizes the moral weight of the action itself as opposed to it 's end or consequence. In Groundworks, Kant attempts to approach ethics like a science, devising a moral law, like the scientific law, where the rules are formulated a priori and apply universally and necessarily …show more content…
To not steal is a choice that Kant would categorize as a perfect duty; a responsibility we must keep at all times, with no exceptions. This differs from what Kant would call an imperfect duty, which is an action we only need to perform sometimes, such as the duty to help others when the need arises (hence, you only need to perform this sometimes). These can be further divided into four categories; perfect duties to oneself, perfect duties to others, imperfect duties to oneself, and imperfect duties to others. Stealing cannot be justified according to Kant because if everybody stole, nobody would trust one another. And if it was okay in a particular circumstance for one to steal, then the rule of not stealing could not be universalized, and therefore morality could not be treated as a science the same way physics or chemistry is (Kant 's objective is to prove that it can be in Groundworks). Therefore, for Kant, Jean Valjean 's choice to steal bread in order to avoid hunger is not justified. However, it is important to note that providing food for the hungry would be considered an imperfect duty to perform for others. Therefore, individuals with plenty to eat, such as presumably the baker Valjean stole from, are obligated to feed Valjean, his sister, and her seven children because they are in need. However, this does not excuse Valjean 's violation of …show more content…
Kant believes that any being capable of reason, should be expected to act from reason. This excludes animals, plants, and humans in a vegetative state, but includes all humans not in a vegetative state. To act from inclination is to act from desires, such as the desire for happiness, or pleasure. These motivations for Kant are not important, and views actions under this motivation to be inhibitory to a rational individual 's freedom. This is another instance, where Jean Valjean 's actions could be critiqued under the rules of Kant 's Groundworks. In Les Miserables, Jean Valjean 's rash decision to steal a loaf of bread, was an action from inclination, because it was performed out of a desire to not feel hunger. On the basis of this scenario, Kant would view Valjean 's will to be ruled by his desires, and therefore not free. On the contrary, to act under reason alone, Kant classifies as a higher level of freedom which he terms 'autonomy of the will ' in