Hypothetical imperative

Everyone has a set of morality and standards they will abide by, telling them right from wrong. Moral theory is an attempt to answer moral questions about our actions and what we ought to do. According to John Rawls, “Moral theory is the study of substantive moral conceptions, that is, the study of how the basic notions of the right, the good, and the moral worth may be arranged to form different moral structures (Rawls, pg. 1).” Utilitarianism is a modern theory introduced to us by John Stuart…

Kant’s passage explores the foundations of human cognition. His principal intention was to determine the limits of pure reason and understanding. His ‘grand question’ from the preface to his introduction, The Critique of Pure Reason epitomises ‘what and how much can reason and understanding apart from experience, cognize?’ (Kant et al., n.d.). In other words, he wants to know what reason alone can determine without empiricism. However, Adorno disputes Kant’s main focal point within the passage…

In Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoevsky explores, discusses and compares various different philosophical ideas through many of the main characters, each embodying the essence of a specific philosophy. Two of the main philosophical ideas that Dostoevsky discusses in this novel are Utilitarianism and its sub-philosophy, Hedonism. Utilitarianism attempts to distinguish between the moralities of right and wrong, good and bad. The axiom of this philosophy is the concept that the good is pleasure…

Kant presents the idea that ethical decisions should be based on a priori reasoning which is a type of reasoning that is based on logical observations, not experiences. Kant breaks these actions into the categories of good will and categorical imperatives, which he further analyzes through the lens of the formulas for universal law and humanity. Through the development of these concepts, Kant creates a way to understand moral values and arrive at a universal set of maxims through use of reason.…

In the Summa Theologica, Thomas Aquinas claims that there must be a first efficient cause to existence and that therefore a chain of causes cannot infinitely continue. This is also known as Aquinas’ second way. An efficient cause is an agent that brings about a change or an effect. Aquinas uses the term to argue that a first efficient cause is needed in order for there to be existence. I will argue that there can be more than one first cause, since Aquinas never explicitly stated that there is…

Logic is the reasoning assessed on the principles of validity. Emotion is the intuitive feeling as distinguished from reasoning. The rule of balance defines the way an individual’s morals bristle with prejudice, evaluating their motivation by pride and vanity in the discovery to reach new insights involving logic and one’s plight of present perception. These concepts can be evident with reference to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, a novel-to-play adaption by Simon Stephens,…

The principle that all events, including human actions or the environmental changes are ultimately determined by the causes regarded as external to the wheel and nothing is predetermined. Based on the assumptions which are constrained contradicts the idea of empowerment and minimizes the importance of human action and decision making, because a person is morally responsible for his conduct. Determinism is the modern name coined in the nineteenth century instead of Democritus, similarly the…

two of the three categorical imperatives are not met. In some cases, the individual could be using people as a means rather than an end, by influencing them to push their own political agendas. Additionally, it is extremely unlikely that all members of society would be willing to agree that individuals in high power position should be able to discuss their own political views as a potential means of influence, making the maxim fail the third categorical imperative. Although this answer may be…

In Kant’s Section I of Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, he explains what is a good will. On Kant’s view, nothing can be regarded as good without qualification, except a good will. Additionally, Kant believes a good will is the indispensable condition of happiness. (Sec I. 393). Kant uses three examples to demonstrate the nature of good willing. Kant introduces three examples about three men in three different scenarios to demonstrate what it is to act according to duty. On Kant’s view,…

Assignment 1# Objections to Act Utilitarianism Act utilitarianism, as defined in lecture, is the ethical theory that states an act is only right if and only if the consequences of that act creates the greatest net balance of well-being out of all possible actions. For this paper, I will also draw on the definition of utilitarianism given by William Shaw, which has three main features. The first is that the only thing considered good unto itself is the well-being of humans and sentient…