Hypothetical imperative

1: How does reason influence moral judgments? Kohlberg in his studies on judgment and morality describes a dichotomy in the methods used to reach moral judgments, i.e. that there are two approaches: the influence of reason and the influence of emotion, and reiterates the long-held question of which influence generally determines moral judgments. Kohlberg lands on the side of Immanuel Kant and Jean Piaget in agreement that moral judgment comes predominately from reason rather than emotion which…

lived in line with the categorical imperative you are moral. There is only one imperative which is act in accordance with the thing you want to become a universal law. Some have boiled this idea down into saying it simply is the golden rule, do to others what you would have them do to you. This is certainly an over simplification of Kant 's thought but I do believe it captures the essence of it and it makes it much easier to understand. Once the categorical Imperative is understood by a person…

same choices I did with my circumstances, however I feel he would not have settled for the abusive part. It was not a means to anyone 's ends except for the abuser. My situation did not have any way for the other two sections of the categorical imperative to flourish. I strictly had a duty to a paper contract called marriage forced due to a Christian upbringing who saw no other option. I used my duty to my country to attempt to remove myself from that contract and fulfill my duty to my family…

considered good if it acts out of duty. To govern one’s actions, Kant relies upon maxims. A maxim is a subjective principle that governs action. In Kant’s view a maxim should be universal and tested using the categorical imperative. The first method to test a maxim using the categorical imperative is to act only according to a maxim where you can will that it should become a universal law without contradiction. In addition you must act as if the maxims will become universal law through your…

s it Ethical to Pose as a Lesbian Couple for a Couple’s Discount? A person submitted an interesting conundrum to the New York Times “The Ethicist” column. She wanted to join a local pool that offered a discount for a couple, which could be defined as a married couple, or a couple in a relationship who cohabitate. The writer’s husband did not want to join the pool, so she and her friend posed as a lesbian couple and used the writer’s address for both women to pose as a cohabitating couple, and…

Consequentialism is the moral theory that only the consequences of actions are morally relevant. The action that has the best overall consequences would be considered the most morally right action. While ideas of what good or bad consequences are may be different, that doesn’t change the fundamental idea that the best consequences are the ones that come from the morally right action. Consequentialists must hold themselves to the exact same regard as other people, which disallows them to…

For Kant, lying is always wrong. It does not matter the situation someone is, as long as someone does the right thing for the sake of duty. However, there are paternalistic lies, which are lies that human being uses for protecting other people’s lives. Kant thinks if we do so, we are taking away their human rights. He says that lying affects our “intrinsic worth”, would threat people as a mean and not as an end, and would hurt people’s feeling. First, each person is born with “intrinsic worth”.…

Within the theory of utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill states that humans act according to the moral greater good of the many, instead of the individual, because it is in our nature to do so. The sole premise of this theory rests on the idea that the best outcome will always come from an action that favors the greatest good for the greatest number. Unlike other theories of this nature, Mills focused on the morality of actions instead of the justice associated with them. One example of this is the…

PHIL401 November 2, 2017 Objection to Joyce In Chapter 3 of The Evolution of Morality, Richard Joyce argues that “language is a prerequisite for having moral emotions” (Joyce, 76). According to Joyce, moral emotions are rich conceptually, and they have to involve moral concepts. He focuses on guilt, which is an emotion that is both related to moral sense and the language evolved traits. In this paper, I will argue that language is not a necessity for non-language users to have moral emotions…

Both Hobbes’ and Locke have very different descriptions of what morality in the state of nature would be like. People could argue that in Hobbes’ description of the state of nature morality is not necessarily a concern. People do not do things based on right and wrong, they do what pleases them. While Locke argues that everyone is give, at birth, a set of natural rights and obligations. All though in some instances there state of nature could be described as the same, how people’s morality plays…