human beings can be ethical

for giving stronger preference to the interests of human beings is that only human beings can
act morally. This is considered to be important because beings that can act morally are required
to sacrifice their interests for the sake of others. Let’s assume we approached our best friend
about the cheating. He may swear us to secrecy and remind us of a past situation where he was
loyal to our interests above all else. We want to be an honest person, but don’t want to get our
friend in trouble. A classic ethical dilemma ensues. Ethics is about character -- the sum of
qualities that defines a person. These qualities include a person’s intellect, thoughts, ideas,
motives, intentions, temperament, judgment, behavior, imagination, perception, emotions,
loves, and hates. In virtue ethics, character is all about what a well-intentioned person with
good character would do. Character counts, as the saying goes, and it is the sum of who we are.
What we stand for. We need to be ethical because it defines who we are individually and as a
society. These are norms of behavior that everyone should follow. Our society might fall into
chaos if we accept that each of us could pick and choose what the right thing to do is. Some
people may lie; others may not do what they say they will do; still others act irresponsibly and
engage in harmful behavior.

Kant freedom

THE GOOD WILL AND THE MORAL LAW

In his first work of moral philosophy, The Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals, Kant tries to
systematize our common moral intuitions in order to give us a method for deciding moral controversies
— that is, issues where our consciences or intuitions might disagree with others’ or not speak clearly.

He notes that the only unconditionally good thing in the world, according to common understanding, is
a good will. Good fortune, health, and even happiness broadly understood are not unconditionally good,
because when married to a bad will they become a source of condemnation for an impartial spectator.
We don’t applaud the evil man who achieves his goals and rides off into the sunset savoring his victory.
We condemn him and hope his plans are frustrated. No, more important than being happy is to be
worthy of happiness, that is, to have a good will.

“The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.”

This is what Kant called “The Idea of Freedom”. It is also more commonly known today as libertarian
freedom. Kant however, saw freedom differently, and perhaps in a more sophisticated manner.

Libertarians would state that one is free when they can choose what they want. Kant in contrast to that,
believes that choosing what you want isn’t freedom. He insisted that acting on the basis of desire is
being governed, not by one’s reason, but by their primitive, animalistic instincts.
Kant's Philosophy of Morality
Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) argued that the supreme principle of morality is a standard of rationality
that he dubbed the “Categorical Imperative” (CI). Kant characterized the CI as an objective, rationally
necessary and unconditional principle that we must always follow despite any natural desires or
inclinations we may have to the contrary. Kant’s most influential positions in moral philosophy are
found in The Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (hereafter, “Groundwork”) but he developed,
enriched, and in some cases modified those views in later works such as The Critique of Practical
Reason, The Metaphysics of Morals, Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View, Religion within the
Boundaries of Mere Reason as well as his essays on history and related topics. Kant’s Lectures on Ethics,
which were lecture notes taken by three of his students on the courses he gave in moral philosophy,
also include relevant material for understanding his views. We will mainly focus on the foundational
doctrines of the Groundwork, even though in recent years some scholars have become dissatisfied with
this standard approach to Kant’s views and have turned their attention to the later works.

Kant calls his fundamental moral principle the Categorical Imperative. An imperative is just a command.
The notion of a categorical imperative can be understood in contrast to that of a hypothetical
imperative. A hypothetical imperative tells you what to do in order to achieve some goal. For instance,
“if you want to get a good grade in calculus, work the assignment regularly.” This claim tells you what to
do in order to get a good grade in calculus. But it doesn’t tell you what to do if you don’t care about
getting a good grade. What is distinctive about a categorical imperative is that it tells you how to act
regardless of what end or goal you might desire. Kant holds that if there is a fundamental law of
morality, it is a categorical imperative. Taking the fundamental principle of morality to be a categorical
imperative implies that moral reasons override other sorts of reasons. You might, for instance, think
you have a self interested reason to cheat on exam. But if morality is grounded in a categorical
imperative, then your moral reason against cheating overrides your self interested reason.

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