Deontological Ethics Chapter 6

DEONTOLOGICAL
ETHICS
CHAPTER 6
HISTORICAL ORIGIN OF
DEONTOLOGICAL ETHICS
 Early beginning of human
civilization, “ at a time when the word
of chief, or the king, ( or God) was given
unconditionally and without invitation to
appeal on the basis of consequences.
 The commands or edict of the ones in
authority and power are something that

are taken and obeyed without any further
questions or objection.
 Obedience is something absolute or
categorical.
Deontological: “ dein”
or “deon” = to be
obligated or simply duty.
Theory or Philosophy: an act or conduct is
considered good or right, thus justified
morally, by virtue of its being an action that
emanates from a
sense of duty or
moral obligation.
Emphasis: value of duty
or obligation as the main
motivation or intention
in human actions.
Deontological or Duty Ethics:
recognizes only those actions that are
done out of pure duty as the
ones having moral worth.
Kant’s Major Contribution to
Deontological Theory
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804):
remarkable contributions to the
history of philosophical thought put
him on the same level with the greats
among the world’s foremost thinkers.
Kant’s Major Contribution to
Deontological Theory
The Good Will: The


Heart of Kant’s Ethics

The Good Will: The Heart of
Kant’s Ethics
Kant claims that what makes an act
right/good and wrong/bad does not depend
on its results or consequences, since all these
are simply beyond ones’ control- a matter of
luck or accident… things usually turn
out the way they are, not the way we
want and expect them to be….
Kant’s Ethics
 Morality , as the sole and
exclusive domain of rational
beings, should be something of
which one should have total
control.
Kant’s Ethics
This, he believes, can only be achieved
by appealing to some universal rational
ethical principle- an ethical principle
that is in the form of “maxim” that
guides human actions at all times an in
all situations.
Kant’s Ethics
 Kant’s ethical philosophy:
primary emphasis on the
importance of reason and
unqualified rational nature of moral
principles. … a strict, hardheaded,
and uncompromising view of
morality.
Kant’s Ethics
Uncompromising Stand: to set
a kind of morality that is
grounded firmly on an objective
and rational foundation as well
as build one single set of moral
principles for anyone who
claims to logical.
Kant’s Ethics
 Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals (1785): Nothing
… can be called good without qualification
except a good will”. Having a good will, or
rather acting in good will means doing an act
with the right intentions or motives, in
accordance with the right maxims or principles,
doing one’s duty or obligation for its own sake (
duty for duty’s sake) rather than for personal
gain or self-interest.
Kant’s Ethics
In Kant, morality is
primarily, if not solely, a
matter of motive or
intention and not a matter
of what one can gain or
achieve in acting.
Kant’s Ethics
 If one’s motive in doing an act is
good and noble, regardless of its

consequences or results, then it
it’s good and thus your conduct is
morally praise-worthy. …the right
thing…
Kant’s Ethics
hence, the worth of an action lies
on the inner motive rather than the
external effects that one can
derive from the act. This is the
heart of Kant’s ethics- doing the
good because it’s good, nothing
more and nothing less.
Kant’s Ethics
Kant’s ethics is an ethics that is
primarily based on good will. The
good will is good if it does its
duty out of pure reverence to the
moral law.
Duty over Inclination
Kant believed that “ a person is only acting
morally when he suppresses his/her
feelings and inclinations and does that
which he/she is obliged to do.
Opposite to Hume: acting primarily on
inclination ( doing the thing that one feels like
doing)
The only act that is worthy to be called
moral is an act that is done not out of
inclination but one is not inclined or
willing to do, but that he does because he
recognizes that he ought to do it; an
obligation exists and he must fulfill it.
For Kant, to be a good person is to act from
a sense of duty alone. One should be
motivated by a sense of moral obligation –
only then one can truly say that he is acting
morally and deserves to be called a moral
person.
Duty is Superior to Happiness
For Kant, the rightness or wrongness of
an act is not determined by its outcome
or results but by its intrinsic property…
eg. Lying… it is wrong in itself
regardless of its consequences……
breaking a promise, cheating….
The Categorical Imperative: The
Universal Principle
For Kant, anytime we do a
certain act voluntarily, we
operate under some kind of
maxim, rule or directive.
The Categorical Imperative: The Universal
Principle
 Maxim: guiding reason or principle for acting under a
particular situation.
 act on the basis self-generated rules or laws or conduct.
Personal and subjective guiding principle
Sometimes, people are not even aware of the maxims
whereby they conduct themselves in specific situations.
Are part and parcel of our daily conduct and behavior,
whether we are aware of them are not.
Principle
The notion of Categorical Imperative:
Universalization: we must universalize
our moral judgments… we must apply
the judgment we make to everyone,
without exception…
Principle
 Kant’s Categorical Imperative: (First
Formulation)
Act only according to that

maxim by which you can at the
same time will that it should
become a universal law.
Principle
The essence of morality lies in
acting on the basis of an
impersonal principle that is valid
for every person, including
oneself.
Principle
 Immoral: maxims that cannot be
universalized or applied to all without
exception on a consistent basis.
 ex. The case of making false
promise…..
Principle
Kant concludes that the maxim that contradicts
itself for it undercuts its own meaning and betrays
a purely formal inadequacy.
 Moral Sentiments:
What would happen if everyone behaved like you
do?, How would you feel if others would do the same?
How would you like it if anyone did the same to you?
Principle
To be moral, right or wrong, good or bad is
to ask: What if everyone else would do the
same?
 This means: Don’t do things that, if everyone
did them, would make for a world you yourself
find unacceptable or abominable and repugnant.
Principle
 In applying the universality test to
specific situations, if a particular act fails
this test, then it is said to be wrong or
immoral, hence not permissible or
morally forbidden. Eg: making a
promise…….
Principle
 It is then wrong or immoral to behave in
could not reasonably
ways that you
and honestly be willing to have
everyone else act. Don’t make yourself or
anyone else an exception.
The Principle of Humanity (Respect for
Person)
Referred also: “ Principle of End” or “ Principle of
Humanity”.
 For Kant, every human being has a supreme worth
and profound dignity due to the fact that he is a rational
agent.
 The ability to think one is able to decide what
particular goals to pursue and generally what one wants
to do with his life.
Person)
One’s essential dignity therefore
mainly lies on the person’s
capacity to determine his own
destiny or end as a self-directed
and conscious being.
Person)
Self-conscious and Self-determining Creature:
the person as an end can never be subjected
to any form of manipulation and exploitation
as if he is just any other object that can be
used to serve some other ends rather than as
an end in himself.
Person)
Kant: since every action has an end
and since the Categorical Imperative
is binding on everyone, its end must
be given by reason alone and so
equally valid for all rational beings.
Person)
What is this end that the
categorical imperative
serves?
Person)
Kant’s Answer: “ all rational
beings exists as ends in
themselves. As an end: human
beings have value that is absolute
and unconditional. Thus, human
person are the ends or the goal by
which the categorical imperative
serves.
Person)
Second Formulation:
So act so as to treat humanity
whether in your own person or that
of any other always as an end and
never as means only.
Person)
As persons with absolute and unconditional
dignity and value, everyone should be treated
with utmost respect; not instruments or tools
to be used for one’s interests/ happiness or
goals; rationality- decide for themselves; can
direct their own action and determine their
own destiny.
Person)
person’s worth is something intrinsic….
People then are the source of all conditional
value….
 Nobody then can give human beings their
worth. Human dignity is something that is intrinsic
, makes us who we are. Taken away, we cease to
be human being.
Person)
 Impersonal Transaction: ( jeepney driver)
Never to act rudely so as to treat the other
merely as a thing through whom we can only get
what we want.
 Insists: we should also treat our own very
selves with respect just like the way we treat
others.
Person)
 Duties: ( we owe to ourselves)
1. self-respect
2. self-mastery
3. duties concerning our bodies
4. duties to work and play
Person)
Kant: Morality covers both
the personal as well as the
social domains of human
existence.
The Autonomy of the Will ( Kingdom
of Ends)
role of human autonomy in matters concerning
morality.
 for without personal autonomy, morality becomes an
impossibility.
 An act becomes moral when it is coming from one’s
willful respect or reverence to the moral law ( doing it
for the sake of duty alone).
The Autonomy of the Will ( Kingdom of
Ends)
 Autonomous Act: it is done without
any external incentives or rewards that
may come out of it( the act is done
purely for duty and nothing else).
Will: ( being the seat of choices where
one’s motives or intentions emanate)
as autonomous.
Ends)
 Autonomous and rational moral Agents:
Following universally valid rules and
principles as laid down by a person,
becomes part of the “ Kingdom of Ends”.
 Kingdom of End: a kind of an ideal moral
universe in which respect for the intrinsic
worth and value of all persons is exercised
by everyone.
Ends)
Noble realm: everybody treats
everyone as End in themselves and not
just to serve or further his or her ends.
 Everyone is equal; dignity is glorified;
everyone is noble and valuable subject
who is always cherished and not
possessed.

Deontological Ethics Chapter 6

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Deontological Ethics Chapter 6

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

DEONTOLOGICAL

authority and power are something that

The Good Will: The

Heart of Kant’s Ethics

good and noble, regardless of its

Act only according to that

You might also like