NCM108

WEEK 2
KANTIAN ETHICS

WHAT IS KANTIAN ETHICS? improvement and preservation to be an undebatable

DEFINITION
• Kantian ethics are a set of universal moral principles
that apply to all human beings, regardless of context or
situation. Has principles that calls as Categorical
Imperatives, which are defined by their morality and
level of freedom.
obligation that is placed on everyone. Therefore,
unproductivity, suicide, or any form of self-destruction
is inherently immoral.
• Act only in accordance with that maxim through which
you can at the same time will that it become a universal
law.”

IMMANUEL KANT HYPOTHETICAL IMPERATIVE

• Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher • is a moral obligation applicable only in pursuit of a
predetermined goal.
• Born in 1724 in Königsberg in East Prussia, where he
died in 1804. • A complete opposite or contrast of categorical
imperative. Hypothetical imperatives are independent
• Was one of the most influential intellectuals in the field
of morality.
of political philosophy.
• Kant is famous for revolutionizing how we think about
MAXIM
just about every aspect of the world — including
• A maxim is a general principle or rule upon which we
science, art, ethics, religion, the self and reality.
act. We do not decide on a set of maxims, perhaps
writing them down, and then try to live by them but
INTRODUCTION TO KANTIAN ETHICS
rather a maxim is the principle or rule that can make
• He is one of the most important thinkers of all time,
sense of an action whether or not we have thought
which is even more remarkable by the fact that Kant is
about it in these terms.
a truly awful writer. His sentences are full of technical
• Maxim has to be possible to will as a universal law and
language, are very long, and are incredibly dense. But
for this to be true it must be at least possible for it
Today, justice systems in democracies are
actually to come about.
fundamentally based on Kant’s writings. The
philosopher’s work provides a compelling account of a
SOME KEY IDEAS OF KANTIAN ETHICS
single set of moral principles that can be used to design
MORALITY
just institutions for governing society perfectly. The
United Nations, formed centuries after Kant’s first book • Kant’s moral philosophy is a deontological normative
was published, is largely based on his vision of an theory, which is to say he rejects the utilitarian idea that
international government that binds nation-states the rightness of an action is a function of how fruitful its
together and maintains peace. outcome is. He says that the motive (or means), and
• He thinks that we can gain knowledge from our senses not consequence (or end), of an action determines its
and through our rational capacities. This means his moral value.
general philosophical approach starts by asking what
DUTY
we can know a priori. This is key to understanding his
work but also makes his writing on ethics seem a bit • There are things we recognize as being required of us
odd. irrespective of what we (really) desire to do. This is
• Kant believes that in doing this people will come to what Kant means by duty.
recognize that certain actions are right and wrong
GOOD-WILL
irrespective of how we might feel and irrespective of
any consequences. • Unlike anything else is good unconditionally and what
makes a good will good is willing alone; no other
CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE attitudes, or consequences, or characteristics of the
• are actions that are right if they respect agent. Even Kant thinks this sounds like a rather
• The rules are categorical as they are universally strange idea. However, Kant thinks that any acts like
applicable, to every person, in every situation, this, which are performed despite conflicting desires,
regardless of their personal goals and inhibitions. They are due to good will. Considering such actions means
are imperative because a human being may be inclined we can recognize that good will exist.
to not adhere to a moral code of conduct, as it is only
human to seek pleasure and reduce pain. The theory
is intuitive about the idea that morality is based on
reason rather than feelings or consequences.
• Categorical imperatives are counterintuitive in the
sense that even though human beings may be inclined
to act in self-interest, their actions must be driven by
their duty to humanity. Kant considered self-

1|Page