Philosophy is a discipline that studies how one ought to live, as well as study reality, nature, existence, etc. However, there are a number of philosophers who propose differing sets of morals and have different ideas of living life to its fullest (Singer v. Mill). Kant proposes that moral actions are defined by the motivation of an action, and later on explains that moral actions are duties through reason, rather than inclination. This essay will explain the validity of Kant’s argument by first explaining Kant’s view on duty, then analyse his view of duty as an object of good will, which pertains to motivations without the slightest selfishness, then argue for moral duties motivated by duty instead of inclination based on reason. It is difficult…
Kant effectively quantifies freedom via his argument for his idea of enlightenment, public/private divide, trade off between rational and physical productivity and finally international governance. He runs into problems however in that he fails to effectively quantify the means of acquiring his aspirational goals of perfect moral constitution, universal enlightenment as well as global cosmopolitan governance. The following section will outline first the public private divide followed by means not considered (harm principle) and the second section will outline the means towards global cosmopolitanism as well as the limitations considered. The attainment of enlightenment is one of the highest level of understanding for Kant and correlates…
Kant basically says that man is immature and relies on others do the thinking for him, he says “If I have a book which provides meaning for me, a pastor who has conscience…
Immanuel Kant’s impact on Western thought is undoubtedly profound. Being one of the most distinguished figures of the German Idealist movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Kant’s work has set a precedent that, to this day, deeply influences our understanding of ethical discussion, political philosophy, and human cognition. Kant’s multiple contributions still are subject of debate; although, it is his Categorical Imperative that gathers the most attention, discourse, and controversy. Being a reaction to the subjectivity of his era, the Categorical Imperative provides an objective and infallible guideline for universal moral behavior, that stipulates one’s actions should not be dependent on ulterior motives and in consideration that the act itself will become universally accepted, ergo, if one were to steal then one should also be accepting of…
HernandezBianka HernandezProfessor Sarah JacobPHI2010 W 5:40-8:40 P11/28/2017How do we know and what can we know according to Kant’s “Critique of Pure Reason? Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher whom in the late 1700’s questioned both empiricist and rationalist on their views of how humans gain knowledge of the world and sought to synthesize both theories into one, in order to close the gap between the two. His primary goal was to measure the extent in which rationalism could be supported without any assistance from senses or other factors. He argued that though we may have innate/rational knowledge of a scopeof actions, we were limited to the reality of our perceiving mind and thus would need, to a degree, external influences to…
Immanuel Kant an 18th century German philosopher considered rather notable for his work in ethical philosophy. Kant was responsible for the book Groundwork of Metaphysics of Morality and his work remains relevant today as a crucial ‘part of Western Moral Philosophy’. Kant argues that reason is what predisposes what is right. Kant believed that religion should not be taken into consideration when determining what is morally right. Kant’s reasoning of this is explained that if one only gaged what is right based on religion this would not result in a ‘supreme principle of morality’ for all people.…
1. What is the most significant thing I learned this week? In the reading of Contemplative Vision Chapter 2, the discussion of retreats truly helped open my eyes in the impact that spiritual retreats can have on our journey with God. Prior to reading this chapter I had the wrong idea of what a spiritual retreat was.…
Kantian Morality is concerned with one thing, personal motives. This idea can help explain Kant’s view of morality. His ideology is unlike anything I have studied yet. It is not as simple as the utilitarian’s trolley car. It is also much more complex then the libertarian idea of morality.…
When applying Kant 's deontologism in this question, it 's of utmost importance to recall "an act can be described as good as is what should be done because it expresses certain characteristic such as universality or conformity with the moral law" (Baillie, Garrett, Garrett, McGeehan, Health Care Ethics: Principles and Problems, 2009, p.5-6). If everybody performed the action with the same purpose in mind, by definition using Kant 's deontologism, giving birth to a child to medically care for another would be ethically permissible. If every child was conceived as a means to prolong the life of another person, the basis of universality would render the action independent of its consequences. This is hypothetically speaking, as our modern world,…
To say that Immanuel Kant 's work was influential would be an understatement. His work marked a paradigm shift in western philosophy with his infamous Copernican revolution. Both the analytic and continental traditions can be said to be a response to Kant 's ideas. Still today, Neo-Kantian thinking is still being applied to contemporary thinking today. However, Kant 's work is remembered more for its impact on philosophical thinking, rather than its modern applicability.…
Imagine if your best friend asked you if they looked good, but you thought they didn’t. Would you lie or would you not lie?I firmly believe that lying is unacceptable in our society. Lying is unacceptable as it morally wrong. For example,Brad Blanton said,”through my work as a psychotherapist in Washinton D.C area I found that lying was pervasive in people’s personal and professional lives.…
I believe Kant would endorse a paternalistic view of truth telling to patients because it coincide with his views of universal truth. The traditional paternalistic practice of withholding or restricting information to an patient, would be a violation of Kant's moral concept. Traditional paternalistic would interfere with the patient's liberty, and the medical professional would be treating themselves as ends in themselves. Kant wouldn't omit information from the patient because that would restricting an individual's liberty. Kant's categorical imperative states that it's immoral to treat people solely as a means to an end, and that individuals must be treated as ends in themselves; in this case the patient's liberty would be violated because…
Kant’s Categorical Imperative Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher remembered for his influence on ethics. Ethics is the philosophical study of moral actions. There are two particular ways of thinking regarding ethics: consequentialism and deontology. Consequentialism divides right and wrong entirely based on the consequences of an action - the end justifies the means. Deontology is the position arguing that consequences do not matter because moral judgement is based on the act alone, not the consequences.…
When I was younger, I remember watching television with my parents and seeing very sad faces, hearing sad music, and towards the bottom of the screen a 1-800 phone number. After the commercial I asked “why are they sad and skinny” my mom answered “ because they have no food” my dad added by saying “always eat all your food because theres someone else that is in need of the food you want to throw away.” At such young age I wanted to call the number, I wanted to help, I wanted to fix the problem. I know that I should help more because its 1 in every 9 people that go hungry everyday. How much can I really do for the world?…
Kant’s moral theory is based on the fact that one’s action should be governed by a maxim that follows the purity of the will; the idea that one’s actions should be based on a will that aligns with duty and not on the consequences of one’s actions. In the contrary, rule utilitarianism is based on the consequences of one’s actions and how it impacts the overall happiness of the individuals involved. The following paper focuses on the ideas of duty ethics and utilitarian ethics; and how these ideas can be implemented in the case of James Liang. Kant believes that an act is morally acceptable when such an act perfectly aligns with one’s duty. Furthermore, he believed that all rational beings are obligated by the demands of duty.…