For Kant, reason plays a key role in living morally. While some acts may be legal, they are not necessarily ethical. Morality provides guidelines for distinguishing right from wrong. In contrast to other ethical theories focused on laws and consequences, Kantian ethics emphasizes having good will and making decisions from duty rather than inclination. Virtue ethics also focuses on character, asking what kind of person one should cultivate to consistently make ethical choices.
For Kant, reason plays a key role in living morally. While some acts may be legal, they are not necessarily ethical. Morality provides guidelines for distinguishing right from wrong. In contrast to other ethical theories focused on laws and consequences, Kantian ethics emphasizes having good will and making decisions from duty rather than inclination. Virtue ethics also focuses on character, asking what kind of person one should cultivate to consistently make ethical choices.
For Kant, reason plays a key role in living morally. While some acts may be legal, they are not necessarily ethical. Morality provides guidelines for distinguishing right from wrong. In contrast to other ethical theories focused on laws and consequences, Kantian ethics emphasizes having good will and making decisions from duty rather than inclination. Virtue ethics also focuses on character, asking what kind of person one should cultivate to consistently make ethical choices.
For Kant, what is the role of reason in living morally?
There are various occasions where something is ethically
acceptable even if it is lawful in certain circumstances. For example, if someone want to have an abortion, they have the legal right to do so. This does not, however, mean that doing so is ethically or legally proper. The laws that represent the rights of the state and its inhabitants serve as the foundation for legal conceptions. It is allowed if an activity does not violate any of the set rules. Morality is a set of guidelines for distinguishing between good and bad action. According to virtue ethicists, being a decent person is a question of having a good character or being naturally inclined to do the right thing. Kantian ethicists believe that being a decent person is just a matter of having "good will." Virtue ethics asks what type of person one should be in order to always make the right decision, rather than what the ideal action is right now. In contrast to deontology and consequentialism, which are based on laws that guide us toward the best course of action, virtue ethics lays a strong focus on the concept of character.