Hypothetical imperative

Are humans being decent? Or do we act just because we have no choice? Well, that is the logic behind the famous story of the Ring of Gyges. The Ring of Gyges was a challenge poses by Glaucon to Socrates. Glaucon wanted to rend Socrates defenseless against injustice, and that was not only his intentions. He also wanted to demonstrate that justice is ruled by injustice, to such a great extend he proposed the following story ("Summary of Plato’s Ring of Gyges"). Gyges, a royal shepherd, found a…

In Immanuel Kant’s book, Grounding, and John Stuart Mill’s book, Utilitarianism, both philosophers have expressed their opinion regarding moral philosophy, and, more specifically, the importance and problems associated with moral philosophy. Kant believes that everyone has the innate ability to reason morally, but are driven away from moral reasoning by our desire for happiness. In contrast, Mill believes that people do not have the innate ability to reason morally, and therefore arises an issue…

Under Kant’s ethical foundations, there are many distinctions that are established; the main one being the empirical and “pure” sides of life. The empirical side is one based off of one’s personal experiences while the pure side is prior to experience. Kant’s focus is primarily on the “pure” side and not the empirical because the empirical side is filled with distractions that get in the way of the universal. The universal is what matters most, not the individual. The death penalty has been a…

In the branch of normative ethics, a person discerns what is right or wrong behavior. There are several theories about what is right or wrong conduct, but two of the most popular ideas is Utilitarianism and Kantianism. Both set up strict methods of deciding how a person would know what the right thing to do in a situation would be. On one hand, utilitarianism claims that you can use intuition to discern what the greatest good for the greatest number of people is. On the other side, Kantianism…

In this paper I argue Lon Fuller's argument for which procedures should be taken when dealing with Grudge Informer cases act accordingly with proper law. As a natural law theorist, Fuller is a firm believer in the practices of implementing morality when creating law. To put any philosopher, who epitomizes their beliefs, under a true test of fidelity to law must make a decision what they ought to do when presented with a grudge informer case while Fuller would believe in what you should do. What…

In the Critique of Pure Reason, Kant purportedly sets out to bridge the gap between rationalism and empiricism arguing that knowledge exists both a priori and a posteriori; that is through experience (sensible intuition) and independent of experience. In doing so, Kant hopes to get closer to a formal system and/or science of philosophy. Insofar as establishing philosophy as a science is possible, Kant believed that this system could stem from a small set of mutually dependent principles. After…

Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason played a significant role in the world of philosophy. Some people would argue that Kant was a philosophical genius, but others would argue that he failed to lay a proper foundation of philosophy. Several German philosophers responded to his work and some even devoted their writings strictly to offering a response to the Critique. Even though these philosophers agreed on a few things regarding philosophy, they did not agree on everything. Johann Gottlieb…

Everyone has a set of values and beliefs. These beliefs are influenced by many factors, two of the factors beings custom and mind. Moral conduct is attributed to a set of customs of right and wrong that exist within a society. Socialization is an imperative process to learning moral conduct. The steps an individual takes to develop a sense of correct behavior can be guided by social norms. An individual learns what clothes to wear, what type of car to drive, how to shake someone’s hand, the…

Human reason can be simply defined as the ability of humans to make interpretations and judgments based on what they have learned and experienced throughout their lives. John Locke and Karl Marx both trust that humans are naturally good and are capable of making decisions and judgments on their own. John Locke expresses his ideas of human reason in his philosophical text Second Treatise of Government. Karl Marx explains his thought of human reason in his pamphlet The Communist Manifesto. Niccolo…

In this paper I will use the views and theories of Ayn Rand on altruism, James Rachels’ view psychological egoism and Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative in order to propose a moral theory on how we ought to behave both individually and as a society. As a frame of reference, I will first present a case on why psychological egoism applies to humans which will tie in with both individual and global morality. In the same way, I will state reasons why I believe Rand was precise in pointing out…