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KantianDutyBased(Deontological)Ethics

Introduction
ThetermdeontologycomesfromtheGreekworddeon,meaningduty.Thetheoryofdeontologystatesweare
morallyobligatedtoactinaccordancewithacertainsetofprinciplesandrulesregardlessofoutcome.In
religiousdeontology,theprinciplesderivefromdivinecommandmentsothatunderreligiouslaws,weare
morallyobligatednottosteal,lie,orcheat.Thus,deontologicaltheoriesanddutieshaveexistedformany
centuries.ImmanuelKant,thetheoryscelebratedproponent,formulatedthemostinfluentialformofasecular
deontologicalmoraltheoryin1788.Unlikereligiousdeontologicaltheories,therules(ormaxims)inKants
deontologicaltheoryderivefromhumanreason.
Tobetterunderstanddeontology,compareittosomeopposingtheories,suchasutilitarianism,whichsayswe
haveanobligationtotakethecourseofactionthatachievesthemostpositiveoutcomeorconsequence.
Accordingthetheoryofutility,thebestconsequenceishappiness/pleasure,becauseitisconsideredthe
absolutegood.Consequentialismtellsusweneedtotakeintoaccountthefinalconsequenceofouraction,even
iftheactitselfisnotmorallygood.
ImmanuelKant
ImmanuelKantwasbornin1724inthePrussiancityofKnigsberg.Heessentiallyspenthiswholeadultlife
attheuniversityandnevertrulytravelledoutsideofthecity.Heonlystoppedworkingattheuniversitythree
yearsbeforehisdeath.Hewasaphilosopherandscientistspecializinginmanyareas,includingmathematics,

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astrophysics,geographyandanthropology.Hewroteseveraldense,difficulttoreadbuthighlyinfluentialtexts
regardingmetaphysics,metaethicsandpracticalmorality,science,historyandpolitics.Hewasthefirst
recordedscholartosuggestthatsomeofthefaintnebulaevisiblewithatelescopeareactuallyseparate
universesinthesky.
Aswithmanyscholarsofhistime,Kantsnewideasandpublishedworksaboutthenatureofrealityandfree
willwerewidelycondemned,buttheyhaveremainedprominentlyinfluentialtothisday.Intermsofethics,the
mostsignificantofhisworksareGroundworkintheMetaphysicsofMorals(1785),CritiqueofPractical
Reason(1788),andMetaphysicsofMorals(1798).ThesetextsconstitutethefoundationofKantsownmoral
philosophy.
ATheoryofDuty
Someterminologytoconsider:
Moralagent:Anagentisapersonwhoperformsanactionamoralagentisapersonwiththecapacitytoact
morally.
Maxim:ruleorprinciple
Will:thefacultyofdeciding,choosing,oracting
Deontologicaltheoriesdifferfromutilitariantheoriesinseveralkeyways.Themostnotabledifferenceis
utilitarianismaimsatagoalofgreatesthappiness(orthebestconsequence)andjustifiesanyactthatachieves
thatgoal.Deontologicaltheoriesholdthatsomeactsarealwayswrong,eveniftheactleadstoanadmirable
outcome.Actionsindeontologyarealwaysjudgedindependentlyoftheiroutcome.Anactcanbemorallybad
butmayunintentionallyleadtoafavorableoutcome.
Kantisresponsibleforthemostprominentandwellknownformofdeontologicalethics.Kantsmoraltheory
isbasedonhisviewofthehumanbeingashavingtheuniquecapacityforrationality.Nootheranimal
possessessuchapropensityforreasonedthoughtandaction,anditisexactlythisabilitythatrequireshuman
beingstoactinaccordancewithandforthesakeofmorallaworduty.Kantbelieveshumaninclinations,
emotionsandconsequencesshouldplaynoroleinmoralactiontherefore,themotivationbehindanaction
mustbebasedonobligationandwellthoughtoutbeforetheactiontakesplace.Moralityshould,intheory,
providepeoplewithaframeworkofrationalrulesthatguideandpreventcertainactionsandareindependentof
personalintentionsanddesires.
AccordingtoKant,themoralworthofanactionisdeterminedbythehumanwill,whichistheonlythinginthe
worldthatcanbeconsideredgoodwithoutqualification.Goodwillisexercisedbyactingaccordingtomoral
duty/law.Morallawconsistsofasetofmaxims,whicharecategoricalinnatureweareboundbydutytoact
inaccordancewithcategoricalimperatives.
CategoricalImperatives
TherearethreeformulationsofKantscategoricalimperative.
TheFirstFormulationoftheImperative

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Actonlyaccordingtothatmaximwherebyyoucanatthesametimewillthatitshouldbecomeauniversal
lawwithoutcontradiction.ImmanuelKant,GroundworkofMetaphysicofMorals
Kantstatesthatatruemoralpropositionmustnotbetiedtoanyparticularconditions,includingtheidentityof
thepersonmakingthedecision.Amoralmaximmustbedisconnectedfromtheparticularphysicaldetails
surroundingitspropositionandshouldbeapplicabletoanyrationalbeing.AccordingtoKant,wefirsthavea
perfectdutynottoactbymaximsthatresultinlogicalcontradictions.
Second,wehaveimperfectduties,whicharestillbasedonpurereasonbutallowforinterpretationregarding
howtheyareperformed.Becausethesedutiesdependlooselyonthesubjectivepreferencesofmankind,they
arenotasstrongasperfectdutiesbutarestillmorallybinding.Unlikeperfectduties,peopledonotattract
blameiftheydonotcompleteanimperfectduty,buttheyreceivepraiseiftheycompleteit,fortheyhavegone
beyondbasicdutyandtakenresponsibilityuponthemselves.Imperfectdutiesarecircumstantial,meaningthat
onecannotreasonablyexistinaconstantstateofperformingthatduty.Whatdifferentiatesperfectand
imperfectdutiesisthatimperfectdutiesarenevertrulycompleted.
ThefirstformulationofthecategoricalimperativeappearssimilartotheGoldenRule:Donotimposeon
otherswhatyoudonotwishforyourself.Kantsfirstcategoricalimperativesoundslikeaparaphraseofthe
GoldenRule.However,theGoldenRuleisneitherpurelyformalnoruniversallybinding.Itisempiricalinthe
sensethatapplyingitrequirescontextforexample,ifyoudontwantotherstohityou,thendonthitthem.
Also,itisahypotheticalimperativeinthesensethatitcanbeformulated,anditsifthenrelationshipisopen
fordispute.
TheSecondFormulationoftheImperative
Actinsuchawaythatyoutreathumanity,whetherinyourownpersonorinthepersonofanyother,never
merelyasameanstoanendbutalwaysatthesametimeasanend.ImmanuelKant,Groundworkof
MetaphysicofMorals
Thisimperativestatesthateveryrationalactionmustbeconsiderednotonlyaprinciple,butalsoanend.Most
endsaresubjectiveinnaturebecausetheyneedonlybepursuediftheyareinlinewithahypothetical
imperative.(Ahypotheticalimperativeisademandofreasonthatisconditional.Ittellsushowtoactto
achieveaspecificgoale.g.ImustdrinkwhenIneedtoslakemythirst.)
Foranendtobeobjective,itwouldneedtobepursuedcategorically.Thefreewillisthesourceofallrational
action.Becausetheautonomouswillistheoneandonlysourceofmoralaction,itcontradictsthefirst
formulationofthecategoricalimperativetoclaimthatapersonismerelyameanstosomeotherendinsteadof
anendinhimorherself.
Basedonthis,Kantderivesthesecondformulationfromthefirst.Apersonhasaperfectdutynottouse
themselvesorothersmerelyasameanstosomeotherend.Forexample,someonewhoownsslaveswouldbe
assertingamoralrighttoownaslavebyassertingtheirrightsoveranotherperson.However,thisreasoning
violatesthecategoricalimperativebecauseitdeniesthebasisforfreerationalactionanddisregardstheperson
asanendinthemselves.InKantianethics,onecannottreatanotherpersonasameanstoanend.Underthe
secondformulationofthecategoricalimperative,apersonmustmaintainhermoraldutytoseekanendthatis
equalforallpeople.
TheThirdFormulationoftheImperative

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Therefore,everyrationalbeingmustsoactasifhewerethroughhismaximalwaysalegislatingmemberin
theuniversalkingdomofends.ImmanuelKant,GroundworkofMetaphysicofMorals
Atrulyautonomouswillisnotsubjugatedtoanyinterestitissubjecttothoselawsitmakesforitself,butthe
willmustalsoregardthoselawsasifothersareboundbythelaws.Ifthelawsarenotuniversal,theyarenot
lawsofconductatall.Kantsuggeststhatpeopletreatthemselvesandothersalwaysasendsandnevermerely
asmeans.Peopleoughttoactonlybymaximsthatharmonizewithapossiblekingdomofends.Wehavea
perfectdutynottoactbymaximsthatcreateincoherentorimpossiblestatesofnaturalaffairswhenweattempt
touniversalizethem,andwehaveanimperfectdutynottoactbymaximsthatleadtounstableorgreatly
undesirablestatesofaffairsforallpartiesinvolved.
Usingreasonedjudgmentwecanapplythisformulatoanymaximanddiscoverwhetheritismorally
permissibleunderdeontologicalethics.Letstake,forexample,theactofpickingflowersfromthelocalpark.
Theflowersareverypretty,andonemaywanttotakesomehome.Essentially,thisrequiresadoptingamaxim
thatsupportsdoingwhateveronewantstodo.Usingtheformulaoftheuniversallaw(categoricalimperative),
thereareafewirrationalitiesandcontradictionsthatarisefromtheadoptionofsuchamaximaslaw.If
everyoneweretodothis,therewouldbenoflowersleftinthepark,andtheactcontradictstheoriginalmotive
forpickingtheflowers.Thebetteroptionistogotoashopandorderorplantonesownflowers.
Thereareafewactsthatarealwaysforbidden,suchaslying,whichnegativelyaffectstrustbetweenpeopleand
themeaningoftruth.Thisruleremainsthecaseevenwhenlyinghasadvantageousorevenmorallyadmirable
consequences.Imagineapsychoticcriminalwantstokillyourcolleague,whofiredthepsychotic.Ifyoulie
aboutthewhereaboutsofyourcolleague,thenaninnocentlifewillbesaved.Itseemsmoraldutyforbidsyou
fromlying.However,ahighermoraldutytrumpsthedutynottolie.Thatis,theobligationnottokillorhelp
othersinkilling,isahighermoraldutythatweshouldfollow.
AlternativeFormulationofCategoricalImperative
Kantexpressedthecategoricalimperativeinafewdifferentways.Themostimportantoftheseistheformula
ofhumanity:Actinsuchawaythatyoutreathumanity,whetherinyourownpersonorinthepersonof
another,alwaysatthesametimeasanendandneversimplyasameans.
Thisisapersonalperspectiveonthesamemoraltheory.Tofailtodothiswouldbetotreatothersinawaythat
contradictsthemorallaw.Forexample,ifIstealabookfromafriend,Iamtreatinghimasameansonly(to
obtainabook).IfIasktohavehisbook,Iamrespectinghisrighttosaynoandamtherebytreatinghimasan
endinhimself,notasameanstoanend.IfIonlyaskforthebookinordertoappearniceandhopethatmy
friendislikelytodomorethingsformeinthefuture,thenIamstilltreatinghimasameansonly.Itistruethat
everyoneusespeopleasameanstoanend.Bus/taxidriversgetuswherewewanttogofactoryworkersare
themeanstoproducingobjectsandultimatelyprofitfortheiremployer.Butusingpeopleonlytogetwhatwe
wantandconsistentlydisrespectingtheirhumanworthisagainstmorallaw.Anexampleofthiswouldbea
factoryownerprovidingunsafeworkingconditions,suchasFoxconninChinaorfactoriesincountriesthat
imposeinhumaneworkingconditionsandpaylessthanminimumwage.
Criticisms
OneofthebiggestcriticismsofKantianethicsisthatitdiscountsoutcomeasavalidfactorinevaluatingthe

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moralityofanaction.Whileitisnotnecessarilywisetorelysolelyonoutcome(asin
utilitarianism/consequentialism),itisnotagoodideatocompletelyignoretheoutcomealtogether.Basedon
Kantsformulaofhumanity,humanlifeissacredandinviolable,meaningonecannotenslaveafewpeople
evenifitwouldenablemorepeopletoleadbetterlives.Killingonepersontosavethelivesofmillionsis
impermissibleinKantianethics.
AttimesKantianmoraldutyseemstocontradictournaturalinclinationsandcommonsense.Ifweobeythe
morallawratherthanourintuitions,weareactingmorally.Deontologicalethicsisweakerwhenitcomesto
informingushowtolivewellordevelopingvirtuesofcharacter.

By:AliShakil

Source
1. Kant,Immanuel.1785.FirstSection:TransitionfromtheCommonRationalKnowledgeofMoralsto
thePhilosophical,GroundworkoftheMetaphysicofMorals.

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