DEONTOLOGICAL

ETHICAL
THEORY
I Kant do it ..
 Early beginning of human
civilization
• The word of the
king is the law
 Deontological
Greek word “dein” or
“deon”
meaning
“To be obligated” or simply
“duty”
 IMMANUE
L
KANT
(1724-1804)

• Avid defender of
deontological theory
• Contributed as many
important and brilliant ideas
to the philosophical study
of ethics
• Morality of an action lies on
the inner motive rather than
the external effects
• Kants’ ethics primarily based
on good will
• Duty must be done out of
pure
reverence to the moral law
HYPOTHETICAL IMPERATIVES

“They’re commands that you should follow

if you want something .“

CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVES
“Commands you must follow regardless of your desires.”
 “A person is only acting
morally only when he
suppresses
his feelings and inclinations
and does that
which he is obliged to do”
 EXAMPLE:
Helping your neighbor to
fix her flat tire
Three possible reasons of
helping:

Immoral Immoral Mor

al
EXPECTATION OF THE
PITY DUTY
REWARD
 “Act only according to that
maxim by which you can
at the same time will that
should become a universal law”
• Maxim is a personal
and subjective guiding
principle
• We must universalize
our moral
judgement
THE PRINCIPLE OF
HUMANITY
( RESPECT FOR PERSONS)
• Also known as ’Principle of
Ends’
• Concerns respect for the
dignity of persons
• Rational beings are ends in
themselves
• Do not treat others as
means
 “For without
personal
autonomy,
Morality
becomes an
impossibility”