Library Assignment: Kant’s Categorical Imperative (Deontology)
Movie: Gone, Baby, Gone The categorical imperative is something we are fundamentally required to do irrespective of how we feel about doing it, and even if others around us are telling us to do something completely different. In other words, we must always do this. The categorical imperative is also a priority, which means it will always be and have always been morally good. As such, we have a duty to recognize, and accept, its moral validity and finality. This means that the categorical imperative is not good on the basis of any effects or consequences it might produce, or even because someone or something else tell us it is good to do it. It is simply good in itself. Immanuel Kant developed a set of ethics to guide our decisions and help us judge whether certain actions are morally correct. According to Kant, the morality of every action must be carefully thought out beforehand. Thinking about all aspects of an action, or moral testing, can help to determine if an act should be performed at all. Kant introduced logical, objective methods to serve as a basis for distinguishing between what is right and what is wrong. He holds a common theme throughout his Kantian moral philosophy, that every act should be an accurate representation of a universal maxim.
In the main action of the film, Kenzie discovers that Doyle is connected with the Amanda’s kidnapping, and then he goes to Doyle’s house to find that Amanda is living with him and his wife. Kenzie has to take a hard decision between leave Amanda with Doyle, who was giving her a happy life with all of a child needs, or take her back to her mother, who is a drug addicted and does not take care of Amanda, her own daughter. The first premise, according to Kant’s doctrine, Doyle took a decision base don the good and not in the rightHe was