...Section One In section one, Kant argues from common sense morality to the supreme principle of morality, which he calls the categorical imperative. Kant thinks that uncontroversial premises from our shared common sense morality, and analysis of common sense concepts such as ‘the good’, ‘duty’, and ‘moral worth’, will yield the supreme principle of morality, namely, the categorical imperative. Kant’s discussion in section one can be roughly divided into four parts: (1) The good will (2) The teleological argument. (3) The three propositions regarding duty and (4) The categorical imperative. The Good Will Kant thinks that, with the exception of the good will, all goods are qualified. By qualified, Kant means that those goods are good insofar as they presuppose or derive their goodness from something else. Take wealth as an example. Wealth can be extremely good if it is used for human welfare, but it can be disastrous if a corrupt mind is behind it. In a similar vein, we often desire intelligence and take it to be good, but we certainly would not take the intelligence of an evil genius to be good. The good will, by contrast, is good in itself. Kant writes, “A good will is not good because of what it effects or accomplishes, because of its fitness to attain some proposed end, but only because its volition, that is, it is good initself . . . .” (4:394) The precise nature of the good will is subject to scholarly debate. The Teleological Argument Kant believes that a teleological...
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...Universal Law, Theory of Immanuel Kant Kantianism is one of the theories of ethics. The creator of this theory is Immanuel Kant. His central concept was categorical imperative. Universal law of this concept says that you should only act on maxims that you can will to become universal laws. I don’t think that this is a good test for determining what action is morally allowable. This test can be used for many situations, but it doesn’t always work. Each person is very individual, so we can’t say exactly what universal law said. The idea of Kantianism is all about acting on the basis of rules that everyone accepts, but not on the emotions or personal goals. Kant uses Universal law to make the test of those rules. To act only on maxims that you can will to become a universal law is the Universal Law Test. To make the test we have to know the maxim, which is always expressed as a general rule or policy. Maxim is your reason for choosing to act in a given way. Kant’s idea of that test is that if a maxim passes the Universal Law, then this action which passes the test is morally good. For example, if you will say “As a general rule, it is okay to buy sandwiches in school’s buffet because you are hungry”, ok yes, that passes the test. The Universal law said that you can buy sandwiches because everyone will accept that. But if you would say “As a general rule, it is okay to steal sandwiches in school’s buffet because you are hungry”, that would not pass the test. Not everyone will...
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...Compare Kant’s theory of transcendental idealist space with that if one of the philosophers (Newton/Clarke) that Kant claims have a transcendental realist conception of space. Which conception if space is more true and why? The ontological nature of space is one of the fundamental questions in Kant’s metaphysics and is the foundation around which he constructs his notion of transcendental idealism laid out in his Critique of Pure Reason. Written in response to the previous ‘realist’ conceptions of space Kant challenged strongly the view of its ultimate reality and served to shift the scope of the ontological argument from one of ‘absolutism’ versus ‘relationalism’ to a more developed debate of ‘realism’ against ‘idealism’ as he brought the relationship between space and time, and the mind strongly to the fore. In this essay I am going to contrast this Kantian notion of space as being ‘transcendentally ideal’ against the branded ‘transcendental realism’ of Newton and Clarke. Starting with the latter I’ll go on to bring in the former then proceed to analyse the developments Kant forges past his predecessors. I will then conclude by assessing how and why his view holds more metaphysical depth than that put forward in the Newtonian model by looking at how he accounts for the scope and perspective of human consciousness and the epistemological limits inherent within it. To begin however I will now go to the absolutist models put forward by Newton and Clarke. Prior to Kant, the arguments...
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...LANGUAGE What follows should act as reminders. For full revision you need to do more than rely on these notes. Use your course notes, essays and text books. 1. Key Words: Religious language is cognitive if it is thought of as conveying knowledge of what is really there. Religious language is non-cognitive it is thought as conveying feelings or expressing desires or guiding ways of behaving. Religious language is realist if it is thought of as conveying testable facts that actually pertain in reality. Religious language is non-realist it is thought of as conveying guiding ideals but with no basis in factual reality. Religious language offers a correspondence theory of truth if it is thought of as being able to point to the reality that it is trying to convey. Religious language offers a coherence theory of truth if it is thought of as conveying making sense within a network of other beliefs which people hold to be true. 2. What Religious Language is: Religious language is an outlet for emotion in special times of life. Religious language is the language of worship. It is performative, ‘I baptise you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit’, and it is prescriptive (law making – i.e. honour your father and mother). However, none these uses of religious language is our focus. Our focus is how religious language might make truth claims about the reality of God and whether it can succeed in doing this. Philosophers have suggested many different ways...
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...Kant is a strong representative of the theory named deontology; this concept emphasizes greatly on the idea of duty, the nature of obligation, and even what someone ought to do. Kant is quick to state how he feels about other theories when they are compared to this one. Unlike other theories this is not focused or fueled by good consequences but, by what is the right thing to do in a situation. Kant states that there is only one good thing here and it is known as good will. The good will is based on reason instead of sentiment like usual theories consist of. Kant is strong willed about the idea of duty that there are even classification of commands, these are known as hypothetical and categorical imperatives. Kant explains how hypothetical...
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...detailed and elaborate responses to the following questions. Your responses should include examples from the reading assignments. Each response should be at least one half of one page in length and utilize APA format. 1. According to Kant, when is an action morally praise-worthy? Firstly, an action, according to Kant, is considered moral if the principle motivating the action is universalizable. Kant’s ethics is considered a deontological theory, meaning that the action’s morality is in the action itself, separated from results and consequences. For it to be praise-worthy and moral, the action must work and implemented on a universal scale. 2. Describe one of the criticisms often leveled against Kant's theory. · One criticism against Kant’s theory is that it relies on subjective judgment. Kant’s theory judges what principles should be universalizable, which allows possibilities on being able to justify committing horrendous acts. 3. Although the two versions of the categorical imperative appear different, Kant contends that they are two ways of stating the same thing. How does Kant support his claim? · Kant believed in always treating people with respect, as ends in themselves, and never as a means to our own ends. Kant supported his claims of stating the same thing in two different ways by stating that “all persons must be treated as ends in themselves” is the same as “always act in such a way that you can will that your act should be a universal law”. ...
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...Kantian Ethics Give an account of Kant’s ethical theory [25] Immanuel Kant was a philosopher who was born in the 16th century. The essence of his ethics is that all human beings are striving for goodness and that the use of power of reason solves any moral dilemma. This is known as the ‘summon bonum’. He developed his own ethical theory based around the idea of moral law. He was looking for some sort of objective basis for morality as a hole, a clear and scientific way. Kant believed that we could use reason to work out a consistent, non-overridable set of moral principles. Immanuel’s ethical theory is deontological, so it is based on the idea that an act’s claim to being right or wrong is independent of the consequences of that action. His theory uses practical reason to look at the argument before deciding what to do about the situation. His ethical statements are described as a priori synthetic, this means that a statement is knowable before sense experience, but requires sense experience for final verification but it may be true or false. His theory basically explains that all humans must do their duty, without the need for experience. Kant believed in right or wrong based on reason, he relies on intuitions or facts. For Kant, practical reason looks at the evidence and the argument, he says it cannot depend on external factors. For his own ethical theory, only good will counts. Good will is at the very centre of ethics, the person is a free moral agent and not one...
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...Joe Altenhofen Professor Maddox Management 368 January 26, 2016 Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant was born on April 22, 1724, in Konigsberg, Prussia, or what is now known as Kaliningrad, Russia. He is the definition of an intellectual. He had his hand in the study of Physics, Theology, Latin, and of course Ethics. Immanuel Kant was the fourth child of nine. His father was a saddle maker and his mother was a homemaker. His parents were devout followers of Pietism, which was an 18th-century branch of the Lutheran Church. His Pastor saw something in Immanuel and had arranged to manage Kant’s education at a young age. While in school as a child he became quite found of Latin literature. At the age of 16 Immanuel enrolled at the University of Konigsberg. He decided to make a devotion to the field of Theology. Not long after his start at the University he changed his field of study to Mathematics and Physics. Only six years after his start there his father died and he was forced to leave. He then worked as a tutor for almost ten years. In 1755, Immanuel returned to the University to continue his education. That same year he received his doctorate of Philosophy. Though he may have gotten his doctorate in Philosophy it should be well noted that he never lost his interest in mathematics and physics. It was said that his interest in these were more of an amateur liking or hobby per say. Kant is more well known for his work in ethics and moral thought. Once again one of his early...
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...Yale University By the year 1768, Kant claimed to be at work on a system of ethics, under the title “metaphysics of morals” (Ak 10:74).[1] During the so-called ‘silent decade’ of the 1770s, when Kant was working on the Critique of Pure Reason, he promised repeatedly not only that he would soon finish that work but also that he would soon publish a “metaphysics of morals” (Ak 10:97, 132, 144).[2] Yet it was not until four years after the first Critique that Kant finally wrote a work on ethics, and even then he merely laid the ground for a metaphysics of morals by identifying and establishing the supreme principle on which a system of duties would be based (G 4:392). Three years later, in the Critique of Practical Reason Kant once again dealt entirely with foundational questions in moral philosophy. Kantian ethics is primarily known, especially among English-speaking philosophers, through these two ethical works of the 1780s, neither of which contains anything like a ‘metaphysics of morals’. Many of Kant’s chief works in the early 1790s are devoted to practical philosophy. The Critique of Judgment’s treatment of taste and teleology is concerned both with moral psychology and with the view of the world which a morally disposed person should take. Other works even deal with the application of Kantian principles to political and religious questions. Yet still there is still no systematic presentation of the practical philosophy which Kant had been promising for nearly three...
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...initiative. Please Read How You Can Help Keep the Encyclopedia Free Author & Citation Info | Friends PDF Preview | InPho Search | PhilPapers Bibliography Kant and Hume on Morality First published Wed Mar 26, 2008; substantive revision Sun Aug 12, 2012 The ethics of Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) is often contrasted with that of David Hume (1711–1776). Hume's method of moral philosophy is experimental and empirical; Kant emphasizes the necessity of grounding morality in a priori principles. Hume says that reason is properly a “slave to the passions,” while Kant bases morality in his conception of a reason that is practical in itself. Hume identifies such feelings as benevolence and generosity as proper moral motivations; Kant sees the motive of duty—a motive that Hume usually views as a second best or fall back motive—as uniquely expressing an agent's commitment to morality and thus as conveying a special moral worth to actions. Although there are many points at which Kant's and Hume's ethics stand in opposition to each other, there are also important connections between the two. Kant shared some important assumptions about morality and motivation with Hume, and had, early in his career, been attracted to and influenced by the sentimentalism of Hume and other British moralists. The aim of this essay is not to compare Hume and Kant on all matters ethical. Instead, we examine...
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...utilitarian ethics Deontological ethics Deontology is a normative theory attributed to Immanuel Kant, which focuses on the concept of the duty. It is concerned on fulfilling what is believed to be a moral duty without considering its impact to other people. It takes the stand that the duty defines the right actions regardless of the consequences. The hold of deontological ethics is that doing right is what conform the moral laws. According to Kant, right actions are not done by following inclinations, impulses or obeying the principle of greatest happiness but are done simply and purely from the sense of duty. Kessler says that some ethical truths and norms are appropriate to everyone in the society, and therefore, people should always act morally irrespective of the outcome for their morals. In deontology ethics, actions are done for the sake of duty. The intrinsic moral feature determines the rightness or wrongness of the act taken by individuals. The duty should always be done by taking the right. For example, duty of a teacher is to benefit a student, and he would like to know the impact of different teaching techniques to the student so as to help him determine the technique which can and cannot benefit the students. Therefore, the rightness of the action is dictated by the rule of the act and not by the outcomes of the act. Rather, outcomes helps to determine the best action to up keep the established duty. Kant says that in doing the right action, it all matters with the...
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...Kant is a firm believer in intent being the basis of morality. If one’s intentions are pure and selfless than that is the recipe for high morality according to Kant. Consequences should not be a part of this recipe. No matter what the consequences are, one should always act with valor, listening to the voice that whispers what one should do out of basic human duty. Acting on duty is the highest form of freedom and morality. When describing Kant’s moral theory you must understand what is meant by hypothetical and categorical imperatives. Hypothetical imperatives stem from the wants experienced in life. If I want to do this, I ought to do that. For example, if I want to go to Mars, I ought to become an astronaut. In contrast, categorical imperatives...
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...English 121 November 12 2015 Kant’s theory While Immanuel Kant was one of the greatest thinkers to date, I found myself left with questions with no real clear answers about his work. One of my major questions I had actually came to me while I was reading though this chapter for the first time. I found difficulties involving his uniquely perceived dissimilarities differentiating a priori and a posteriori knowledge. In my personal opinion the main bulk of our individualistic conception and interpretation of the world stems almost solely from our personal involvement and observations of said world. It was this line of questioning I followed to my true problem with his theory: does all knowledge begins a posteriori; and can there truly be a form of a priori knowledge? Immanuel Kant's proposed classification of what it is that establishes a priori knowledge, knowledge of a subject with no previous experience or observations, seemed to impress upon me that all our perceived a priori knowledge must have originally streamed from, or been reasoned out from a previous a posteriori knowledge. Even a simple suggested "a priori knowledge" such something as trivial as “the sky is blue” is dependent on experience. When we think of the statement “the sky is blue” our subconscious minds unknowingly affirms this bit of information with prior memories associated with the sky or colors, which all originated through first-hand experience. Consequently, as time passes on, the grouped recollections...
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...Seminar Two: Short Paper B Macland Baker College Introduction: The Problem We are given two problems for ethical consideration. The problems are similar in some respects, but different in one primary detail. The problems are called The Trolley Problem 1 and The Trolley Problem 2. Both problems have a runaway trolley that will kill five people on the track ahead if it continues on its course uninterrupted. The first problem has a switch that will turn the trolley off the track with the five people on it and turn it onto a track where there is one person on it. By hitting the switch you will save the five people, but the trolley will kill the one person. Do you hit the switch to save the five, or let the trolley go and save the one? I would hit the switch and save the five. I felt that if I was put in the position of having to choose to save one or save five, I would choose to save five. To not act at all, to me, is still acting because your inaction still kills one person. It is better to kill five people over killing one person? Definitely not. Although I don’t advocate that killing one person is justified. My choice is simply made because I was given the option of saving one or saving five. My option was not killing one or killing five. Mentally, this changes the scenario. It makes me feel less personally responsible for the deaths. In the second problem there is no switch. The problem is made more personal by the presence of an individual. You are standing on a bridge...
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...role of the categorical imperative within Kant’s theory A Categorical Imperative is a should statement, but it is not based on experience, and doesn’t rely on outcome. Instead, it precedes experience by using logic, or helps us make sense of our experiences. When considering another are of thinking, Kant showed that we must assume that time moves forwards, but also that our mind forces this on our experiences to make sense of them. Therefore as human beings we could never demonstrate or prove this through experience. This is how the categorical imperative works: certain actions are logically inconsistent and would make no sense as universal laws, such as lying. Therefore, ‘Do not lie’ is a categorical imperative and it’s this understanding that our mind plays an active role in ordering and determining our experience was ground-breaking. Kant states the categorical imperative as follows:” I ought never to act except in such a way that I can also will that my maxim should become a universal law”. This quote specifically highlights the true nature of the categorical imperative within Kant’s ethical theory. Another interpretation of the categorical imperative is that it is supposed to provide a way for us to evaluate moral actions and to make moral judgments. It is not a command to perform specific actions; it is simply formal procedure by which to evaluate any action about which might be morally relevant. According to Kant, the moral law is universal and impartial and rational...
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