Chapter 4

DEONTOLOGY
Kantian Ethics
By: Immanuel Kant
Duty and Agency
 REASON = ability to stop and think about what we
are doing or about to do.
= ability to separate oneself from the
immediacy of one’s surrounding/
circumstances
= ability to reflect on our action: affects
the self and the world.
= ability to imagine/create a different

and better world.

 To understand the rational will, we have to differentiate human beings
from animals.
 STOP AND THINK = wait lang, sandali, sandali lang moments
 SEPARATE = hindi nagpapadala sa tawag ng pagkakataaon at
pangangailangan
 REFLECT = re+flectare = to bend back.
 EX: Someone gravely insulted me and it really pisses me off I want to
punch that person in the face. That person is your teacher. If I don’t
stop and think about what I am about to do, if I cannot separate myself
from the impulse of my anger and vengeful instincts, I may not be able
to reflect on how my action would affect me and my world. It would
even deny me the ability to imagine/create a better way of dealing with
the situation. Is there no other/better way of dealing with the situation
than punching my teacher in the face? For Kant, human beings are the
ARCHITECTS of their own lives—we CONSTRUCT/DESIGN our worlds not
us BEING DESIGNED by our worlds.
Duty and Agency

REASON WILL
thought action

first second
construction construction
capacity to capacity to
imagine/create/plan a act/enact/carry out
better world the plan of a better
world
Duty and Agency
 RATIONAL WILL = literally, a will governed by
reason
 It is the faculty to intervene in the world, to act
in a manner consistent with reason.
CAUSE EFFECT
Animals REACT stimulus response
Humans ACT reason action

 It is the the capacity of a person to be the cause

of one’s actions based on reasons.
Duty and Agency
 RATIONAL AGENCY = the the capacity of a person to
act based on his own freewill and deliberation.
 ‘agency’ and ‘action’ Latin: ago, agere, actus = ‘to do/act’

 ACTION = the moving of oneself and taking concrete

means in view of a freely-chosen goal/end.
 ‘deliberate’  Latin: liber=‘free’, related to libra=‘scale’

 DELIBERATION = thinking freely so that one can

weigh the worth/merit of one’s action.
To be the cause of one’s own action is act
freely.
Rational action/rational agency is a
result/effect of deliberation.
That is why in our criminal law – who are
criminally liable? 9-15 years old are
criminally exempt from criminal liability
unless they acted with DISCERNMENT
(DELIBERATION)