KANTIAN ETHICS

BY KUNTAL CHAKRABORTY SEC-D ROLL NO-195

KANTIAN ETHICS
 According to Kant, morality is based on pure reason, as

people has ability to think rationally, they therefore must act morally irrespective of personal desires. Act morally regardless of the consequences.  Kants theory is an example of a Deontological moral theoryaccording to these theories, the rightness or wrongness of actions does not depend on their consequences but on whether they fulfill our duty.

 What is an imperative?

An imperative is a command.
 What is a maxim?

A maxim is the rule or principle on which we act

 There are 2 types of imperatives-

1st Type: The Categorical Imperative Kant believed that there was a supreme principle of morality, and he referred to it as . Act according to the maxim that you would wish all other rational people to follow, as if it were a universal law

2nd Type Hypothetical Imperatives these imperatives command conditionally on your having a relevant desire. Example If you want to go to medical school, study biology in college. If you dont want to go to medical school, this command doesnt apply to you. Another example, your father says, "if you are hungry, then go eat something!" - if you aren't hungry, then you are free to ignore the command

Categorical Imperatives
 It has three formulations:

(1) The principle of Universalizability "Act as if the maxim of your action was to become through your will a universal law of nature." This principle states that an act is good if everyone should, in similar circumstances, do the same act without exception

CLASSIFICATION
 Perfect Duty is that which we are all obliged to do all of

the time. example- no killing, no physically harming others, no lies, no theft, no breaking promises
 Imperfect Duties are those which we should do as often

as possible but can not be expected to do always. example- be charitable, loving &caring

 (2) Respect for person

"Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, in your own person or in that of any other, not simply as a means to and end but as an end in itself. EXAMPLE- Having an abortion simply because the fetus is not the sex that the couple prefers, is treating the unborn child as a means to their happiness, and not as a separate entity that deserves its own life. This would be violating the second formulation of the categorical imperative. Since it violates the second formulation, it would be declared an immoral act by the Kantian theory of ethics.

 (3) Autonomy (self governing)

"So act that your will can regard itself at the same time as making universal law through its maxims." A truly autonomous will would not be subject to any particular interest, it would only be subject to those laws which it made for itself. But it must also regard those laws as if they would be binding to others, or they would not be universalizable, and hence they would not be laws of conduct at all. We treat others as autonomus agents, capable of self directed, rational action capacity to rise above self interest, forces of desire & physical necessity to act freely on basis of reason.

ExampleIn case of involving case of asbestos poisoning at johns Manville company doctors neglected to tell the alarming results of their medical test to the workers however this was rationalized on the ground that nothing could be done to curb the diseases any way so workers were better off by not knowing about it. It failed to respect the autonomy and dignity of asbestos workers which clearly violated the 3rd formulation.

 Are exceptions possible for Kant?

Yes, as long as they can be consistently universalized Examples The speeding car  We can universalize an exception for something like ambulance drivers  Can we universalize a maxim to deceive in order to save innocent lives?

Case Study
Martha, as a home-service medical care volunteer, has cared for George through the final weeks of his fatal illness. Just before he died, George told Martha where a large sum of money he had accumulated was stored. He asked her to see that the money was given to the Society for Protection against Alien Control of the Earth (SPACE). Since George's illness did not affect his mental capacity, she agreed. But now that he has died, she is considering using the money to support the activities of the local Hunger Task Force, an organization that provides donated food to those who need it. George has no surviving friends or relatives, and no one else knows about the money. He left no written will.

 Since keeping the promise is certain to have only a small

impact on human welfare, whereas giving the money to HTF is very likely to have a much bigger impact, with only a small chance of producing an outcome that is only somewhat worse than the certain outcome of keeping the promise, giving the money to HTF is the best prospect.