Molina Arjay L.

GECETH-18 – Ethics

2BSA-3 Assignment 6

How is “good will’’ related to “duty” in Kantian Ethics?

For Kant, doing a good action can be done in two ways, if you are forced to do a good thing or if there is
a force in you that pushed you to do a good thing as if it was an obligation for you that it was intended
for you to do in your thought and that is what he called a “good will” and “duty” for Kant it is something
internally given and ordered to you by your thoughts of which it is your moral obligation to do or it is a
responsibility of yours. In relating those two, “Good Will” is to act out of a sense of moral obligation or
“Duty”
What are the strengths and weaknesses of Kantian ethics?
Strengths
Not consequentialist – Kant realized a bad action
can have good consequences.
Universal – Provides moral laws that hold
universally, regardless of culture.
Clear – Kant’s theory is argued as simple. “Would
you like it if someone did that to you?” “No?”
“Then don’t do it to someone else”
Autonomy – Kant has the greatest respect for
human dignity and autonomy.
Rational – Kant is not swayed by emotion. His
theory does not allow favoritism. It is a purely
rational theory.
Human Rights – Provides a basis for Human
Rights.
Equality and Justice – Provides a basis for modern
conceptions of equality and justice.
International Law – Provides a basis for a lot of
British and international Law.
Objective – Objective standards, rather than
subjective in situations.
Duty – Bad options can come out of acting
through love/compassion. Acting out of duty is
always right.
Reliable – A system of rules works, and everyone
knows there are obligations.
Authority – Kant’s rules are logical and
reasonable – as if everyone broke promises, they
would no longer mean anything.
Ends in themselves – Kant respects human life as
ends rather than means, however this is
contested by modern medical ethics.
Weaknesses
Consequences – Sometimes consequences can be
so severe that rule breaking may be necessary.
Inflexible – It should be acceptable to break an
unhelpful rule if the situation warrants it.
Lack of motivation – Realizing that something is
irrational doesn’t give any motivation to do the
right thing.
Conflicting duty – Looking after your mother vs.
looking after your father. Which one do I follow?
Absolute Duty – Ross argues that we have an
absolute duty – sometimes we have a duty to
break a promise.
Moral Law – Some philosophers question the
existence of the moral law. Why should we
believe that there is objective morality?
Anthropocentric – Kant sees non-human animals
as having no intrinsic value.
Too Vague – It is not clear how broad our
application of the CI should be.
Difficulty forming maxims – If the SS asked if you
are hiding Jews. Which maxim do you follow? ‘Do
not lie’ or ‘Do not expose others to violence’?
A priori – Some slander the a priori approach.
Isn’t experience better, in situations such as
medical ethics.
Unrealistic – Just because we follow this route
doesn’t mean everyone will too.
Unforgiving – Kant believed in retributive justice
‘an eye for an eye’.
Every situation is unique – Universal rules aren’t
much use in a world where every situation is
different. If no situation is the same, morality
should be relativist not absolutist.
Reference Links
https://pediaa.com/what-is-the-difference-between-hypothetical-and-categoricalimperative/

https://unkantrolablerpe.wordpress.com/2016/11/02/strengths-and-weaknesses-of-kants-theory/