Hypothetical imperative

Morals govern the way we live every day, the way we behave, the things we do and the ways in which we interact with each other; everyday people make decisions based on what they believe is right and wrong. But is this really necessary? And if it is, then why? To answer this question, we must first know why we desire being moral and where the ideas of these morals originate. Ultimately morality is required both on a personal and communal level, it is an essential component of an effectively…

philosophy that was originated by Immanuel Kant. Immanuel Kant believes a good action is only base on a good will, and when duty and will are aligned with one another. The main formulation of Kantian ethics is base on the categorical imperative. The categorical imperative is a principle of universalisability and questions if everyone in the world were to be doing the same action at the same time would the action be morally right. In terms of this situation, Kantians would be completely against…

One of the formulations of the Categorical Imperative goes: "Act as if your maxim were a universal law of nature." Kant characterizes a maxim as a "subjective principle of volition," by which he implies a bearing or formula for how to carry on in a specific circumstance. One such saying can be "we ought to stay faithful to our obligations when we make them." According to this, we must approve of a maxim if it is one that everyone can follow without resulting in a "formal contradiction." A…

What Makes Right Acts Right? Article Review Sir David Ross is the author of two books on the subject of moral philosophy that rejects both the utilitarianism and Kantianism theory in that they fail to address how ordinary people feel about moral obligations. The utilitarianism theory is a moral philosophy that was promoted by John Stuart Mill a British philosopher during the eighteen hundredths, Mill was home-schooled by his father and learned to speak the Greek languish at the age of three. The…

In chapter one of Kant’s Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals, Kant argues that human’s purpose is not happiness, mainly in order to further defend his previous claim that a good will can be considered good without any necessary qualification. Kant agrees with the principle that no instrument for any purpose would be found in a being unless it was the most appropriate instrument for that purpose. This is why he claims that nature would have made a grave mistake if it burdened reason with…

idea of “duty to oneself.” Kant supports the categorical imperative with three different rules, all of which convince me that we have moral duties to ourselves because these rules are in a sense applicable to everyday life. The three rules include the universal law, treat humans as ends in themselves, and act as if you live in the Kingdom of ends. Universal law is discussed first where Kant states, “There is only one categorical imperative. It is an act only according to that maxim by which…

Immanuel Kant is a modern philosophical figure who continues to exercise influence today in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, political philosophy, aesthetics and a significant number of other fields. Freedom is important to Kant's view because moral appraisal presumes that we are free in the sense that we have the ability to do otherwise. To see why, consider Kant's example of a man who commits a theft, Kant holds that in order for this man's action to be morally wrong, it must have been…

By the third section of the Groundwork, Kant has explained two aspects of the moral law that ground his discussion of freedom and why we must presuppose it’s existence as a property of the will of all rational beings. First, morality functions as a law for humanity only insofar as human beings are rational beings. In other words, the supreme practical principle of morality is a law that is valid for all rational beings, and because human beings are rational, it is a law that is valid for…

Kant starts from the belief that an action is moral if and only if it is naturally good. Being good in itself, as he would put it. I would find this view has to have two main implications. Firstly, moral actions cannot have mixed motivations. Or else, the action is going to be based on some other motivation, and not on the essential goodness of the action. Secondly, actions cannot be based on thought of any other possible outcomes. Or else, the action would not be good in itself, but instead it…

Truman’s dilemma on the use of atomic bombs to end World War II and in the process comes in contact with Elizabeth Anscombe, a 20th century foremost philosophical champion of the doctrine that moral rules are absolute, the theory of categorical imperative, Kant’s arguments on lying to make the case on moral judgments. First, the Rachels’ use President Harry Truman’s encounter with Elizabeth Anscombe, a 20th century foremost philosophical champion of the doctrine that…