Kantian Business Ethics

The Ethics of Duty

More than any other

philosopher, Kant
emphasized the way in
which the moral life was
centered on duty.

1724 -- 1804
 It is sometimes described as "duty" or "obligation" based
ethics, because deontologists believe that ethical rules
"bind you to your duty.
 When faced with an ethical dilemma, Kant believes we
should ask ourselves: “To whom do I owe a duty and
what duty do I owe them?”
 Kant believes only actions performed for the sake of duty
have moral worth.
A central theme among deontological theorists is that
we have a duty to do those things that are inherently
good ("truth-telling" for example) .

While the ends or consequences of our actions are

important, our obligation or duty is to take the right
action, even if the consequences of a given act may
be bad.
Types of Imperatives

 Hypothetical Imperative:
– “If you want to drive to Jaipur from New Delhi ,
take the NH 18 Highway.”
– Structure: if…then…
 Categorical Imperative
– “Always tell the truth”
– Unconditional, applicable at all times
The Categorical Imperative

Act only according to the maxim whereby you

can at the same time will that it should become
a universal law.”
or
“Act as if the maxim of your action were to
become through your will a universal law of
nature.”
“The obligation to do our duty is unconditional. That is, we
must do it for the sake of duty, because it is the right thing
to do, not because it will profit us psychologically, or
economically, not because if we don’t do it and get caught
we’ll be punished. The categorical imperative was Kant’s
name for this inbred, self-imposed restraint, for the
command of ` within that tells us that the only true moral
act is done from a pure sense of duty.”

 -- Admiral James Stockdale

 Kant's three significant formulations of the
categorical imperative are:

 Act only according to that maxim by which you can also

will that it would become a universal law.
 Act in such a way that you always treat humanity,
whether in your own person or in the person of any
other, never simply as a means, but always at the same
time as an end.
 Act as though you were, through your maxims, a law-
making member of a kingdom of ends
Categorical Imperatives:
Universality

 “Always act in such a way that the maxim of

your action can be willed as a universal law
of humanity.”
--Immanuel Kant
Categorical Imperatives:
Respect

 “Always treat humanity, whether in yourself

or in other people, as an end in itself and
never as a mere means.”
--Immanuel Kant
KANTIAN VS. UTILITARIAN

 UTILITARIANISM
 Greatest Happiness Principle
 The rightness or wrongness of an act depends upon the
consequences. (the END Justifies the MEANS)

 KANTIAN ETHICS
 Supreme Principle of Morality
 The rightness or wrongness of an act depends upon universal
laws of action (the END never Justifies the MEANS)
 It is all about DUTY
 Deontological ethics is commonly contrasted with
teleological ethical theories, according to which the
rightness of an action is determined by its consequences.
Deontologists believe that some actions are wrong no
matter what consequences follow from them
 Immanuel Kant, for example, famously argued that it is
always wrong to lie – even if a murderer is asking for the
location of a potential victim
Overview:
The Ethics of Respect

One of Kant’s most

lasting contributions to
moral philosophy was
his emphasis on the
notion of respect
Kant on Respect

 “Act in such a way that you

always treat humanity,
whether in your own person
or in the person of any other,
never simply as a means,
but always at the same time
as an end.”
Kant on Respecting Persons

 Kant brought the notion of respect (Achtung) to the

center of moral philosophy for the first time.
 To respect people is to treat them as ends in
themselves. He sees people as autonomous, i.e., as
giving the moral law to themselves.
 The opposite of respecting people is treating them as
mere means to an end.
 Strength’s of Kantian Ethics

• Emphasizes the equal rights and importance of every

person.
• Protects the rights of the minority from the majority.
• Focuses on following moral principles rather than
producing specific results.
 Weakness of Kantian Ethics

- Provides no guideline for determining priority when

different duties conflict.

- For example, what if you don’t believe in lying or copying

someone else’s work? Would you lie and tell a friend that
you don’t have the paper he wants to look at and
possibly copy? Or do you let him have the paper? Duty-
based ethics provides no framework for you to resolve
the conflict.
- • Duty-based ethics could simply become “rule
following,” with possible temptations to bend the rules or
to cut corners.

- • Doing one’s duty can have negative results. If it

does, can the action taken still be considered moral?