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…
Consider the following situations. In the first, you are an educator at the local university. You hear there is a crazed man demanding to see one of your students. Upon hiding the student in the room, you tell the man that the student did not attend class today and you don’t know where he is. Conversely, you work for a large company in New York, and it is your secretary is leaving in a few days for maternity leave.…
In his second argument, Kant is tempted to create exceptions to the rule against lying because in some instances, the consequences of not lying will be bad and the…
The excerpt written by Sissela Bok, about Immanuel Kant, states that lying is always bad and harms the liar as well as society. One example in paragraph two states, “This is an absolutist position, prohibiting all lies...” this means that Kant forbids all lies no matter what they are; even the ones that can save somebodies life. Another example in the article states, “...remove any effort to distinguish among lies...” which means that because Immanuel Kant rejects all lies; he believes that all lies are the same, and no lie is greater than the other. The last example that is stated says, “... this means that being called a liar was a mortal insult...” this means that being called a liar is a severe or even deadly insult; if someone is proven…
I argue that lying is permissible in situations where lying is used for the greater good of others, which is supported by John Stewart Mill’s conception of Utilitarianism. According to Kant in the “Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals” it is not permissible to lie because he defines morality as not harming others, which lying does according to his “Metaphysics of Ethics.” Conversely, Utilitarianism is the theory that right actions maximize happiness, which could mean this happiness is acquired at another’s expense. At the core of this theory is the Greatest Happiness Principle. This principle states that one should act such that one’s actions produce the greatest happiness for the greatest number.…
Name- MAYANK MANGAL ID No.- 2014A4PS459H Assignment: Personal Response Essay Immanuel Kant : An answer to the question: What is Enlightenment An answer to the question: What is Enlightenment is an essay which was written by Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) in the year of 1784, the greatest modern philosopher of all times is deeply inspired by Rousseau from where he adopts the novelties of freedom as autonomy or itself legislation. The essay addresses the causes of lack of enlightenment and the preconditions which are necessary to make it possible to enlighten the people. Kant thinks that the people should be given freedom to use their own intellect and he abolished all church and state paternalism.…
This example shows why Kantian Ethics interferes with our deeply held moral intuitions. There are times like this where lying seems absolutely necessary, however that completely goes against Kantian…
In Sissela Bok's article “Rejecting All Lies: Immanuel Kant”, ”A lie, even if it does not do wrong any particular individually, for it vitiates the source of law”(4). Lying to a close friend or a significant other is occasionally improper because lying was more meaningful than showing love for a relationship which causes distress. Furthermore, Sissela Bok also says, “It harms the liar himself, by destroying his human dignity and making him more worthless even than a small thing”(4). Lying is sometimes unacceptable because it can damage the one who is lying and leave them feeling dishonest and untrustworthy. In simpler terms, lying is to protect loved ones from several issues that may occur during the process to avoid causing a clash which can ruin either one…
In continuing our ethical discussions surrounding rights and duties, philosopher Immanuel Kant stated that there are a set of moral rules that we must abide by under any circumstance, no matter the consequences. The example provided in this week’s reading suggested the woman hiding in your bushes claiming to running from a man who was trying to kill her. Do you tell the knife-wielding man where the woman was hiding or lie to buy more time, in an attempt to save her life? By trying to prevent the death of the woman, we essentially could have caused her death. The intended result of our lying was to protect the woman but the consequence was her death.…
A lie is a lie, and therefore we should be telling the truth no matter if the outcome is wrong or not. Ericsson showed that and explained that by telling lies, your only hurting yourself and would eventually not know what is real or a lie after a while. Telling a lie may fix an issue for just a short while, and finally becomes a more significant situation then if you had only told the truth to begin…
In discussions of deceitfulness, one controversial issue has been if it is ever right to lie. Both Anton Chekhov’s “The Lady with the Dog” and Stephen Carter’s “The Insufficiency of Honesty” argue that lying can be rationalized. On the other hand, some people argue that lying is never virtuous as it misleads others. However, I argue that, lying can be justified if it is not used for malicious intent, because it is often used selflessly to protect the feelings of others.…
It is possible that at times the truth is contradicted for the benefit of the public which is better and correct, like at the time of the Nazi occupation of Europe when storm troopers were misinformed about family whereabouts. This was seen as a heroic deceit. Consequently as part of human development, we can perceive and understand that there may not be a complete need for truthfulness in our forms of conveyance amongst one another during our daily experiences. Lying and deceiving one may not always be seen as a bad or dishonorable in many conditions because we assume politicians lie, and thus for the politics to work we need to believe in them. The writer Damon makes an assortment of different expressions focusing on historical and cultural viewpoints discussing modern issues regarding the lack of honestly and truthfulness.…
Kant argues that there is nothing wrong with telling the murderer the truth because the murderer is his own moral agent, and the parent is not responsible for the murderer’s choices. By preventing against moral abuses such as loopholes, personal biases, and self-serving exceptions, Kant’s categorical Imperative eliminates the possibility of having true moral value in certain…
We should never lie. Kant is a philosopher who thought there are absolute moral rules in the world. He thought that never lying is one of the absolute moral rules, and he offered arguments for it: 1. You should only do things that you are willing to adopted to be universalized. 2.…
Since a very young age we have been told by our parents to always tell the truth. But, do we always follow that order? No. Sometimes people lie. Lying can be defined as when a person knows the truth, but instead he says otherwise.…