Kant's Universal Law, Law Of Nature, And Humanity Formulation

Kant believed that the moral worth of an action depends solely on the motive of the action and that the supreme principle of morality is the categorical imperative. Now, consider that a man named Jones is terminally ill with only a week to live and his last week will be full of pain and misery. However, Jones, his family, and his physicians all agree that a drug-induced, painless death would be preferable; Jones just has to determine if an induced death is morally permissible. In order to do this Jones’, his family and his physicians must test their action as a categorical imperative by using Kant’s Universal Law, Law of Nature, and Humanity Formulation. First, they must assign a maxim to their situation. A maxim is a description of the act, …show more content…
A categorical imperative is an unconditional moral obligation that is binding in all circumstances and is not dependent on a person’s inclination. It provides us with a way to evaluate whether an action is moral or not. There are three formulations to test a categorical imperative: the Formula of Universal Law (FUL), the Formula of the Law of Nature (FLN), and the Formula of Humanity as an End. The first formulation tests to see if a universalized maxim contradicts itself, and thus, cannot be universalized as a basis of action without causing confusion. The second formulation asks if an individual would choose to live in a world where the universalized maxim is followed at all times. For example, could an individual wish to live in a world where anyone can refuse to help another individual in distress. The answer is no, an individual could not will that due to the fear of being in need of assistance and receiving none. Finally, the third formulation tests whether the act treats and respects humanity as an end not as means. Moreover, this formulation expresses that we cannot treat individuals merely as a means to achieve what we desire because human lives maintain an intrinsic …show more content…
There are two ways in which Jones could induce death through drugs: physician assisted suicide or voluntary active euthanasia. Physician assisted suicide requires an active and willing physician to provide Jones with the information about how to commit suicide in an effective manner and to provide the necessary mean (i.e. the drugs) for an effective suicide. However, after supplying Jones with the drugs, the act of inducing death is in Jones’ hands and the physician is no longer required. Meanwhile, voluntary active euthanasian requires an active physician throughout the entire process of inducing death. First, the physician must present Jones with the information pertaining to the death and proceed in response to Jones’ informed, competent decision. Then, Jones’ decision to induce requires the physician to inject Jones with a lethal drug to deliberately cause