DAY 75 - Immanuel Kant and Questions that Matter

At the same time as Mill/Bentham's Greatest Good for the Greatest Number of People school of thought arose, so did an equally important idea emerge: ethics should consider the INTENTION of the action, not the outcome.

Immanuel Kant - similar to Descartes, he suggested that the only intrinsically good thing in existence is a Good Will.

Kant said, "Good Will accords with Duty."  And duty is, "That which is rational."  Matches up with Aristotle and Descartes.

The idea that the only good is a good will is called, Categorical Imperative ("Absolute Command").

"Act only according to that rule whereby you can at the same time WILL that it should become a universal law of nature."

He meant that when faced with making a moral choice, people with a good will MUST choose the course of action that they would want EVERYONE to choose all of the time.  e.g. if, in a certain circumstance a good person would tell the truth, then you must ask whether telling the truth should become a universal law.  Or lying - in a different situation when telling a lie is a better choice, that it's ok for everyone to lie all the time.

"Act in such a way that you treat humanity always as an END and never as a MEANS."  (Opposite of Mill/Bentham).  He means here that people must respect one another and not use others.  When people respect one another, lying is morally wrong because it denies other people's autonomy - their ability to freely make rational decisions on the basis of a good will.  Someone who has been lied to does not have accurate information on which to base moral choices.  Lying also uses other people as a means of achieving the liar's end or purpose, and it ignores the purpose of the person who is being lied to.

Kant believed that we can make NO exceptions to the categorical imperative.  e.g. we must tell the truth under all circumstances, even if it leads to bad consequences.  This is a duty to tell the truth.  He also called this the "Deontological Theory" from the Greek "deon" = duty & "logos" = reason.

Strengths in this theory are impartiality and good intent.  If one acts with good intention then they should be judged morally right even if there are bad consequences.

Weakness in this theory is that it relies on reason and follows strict rules without consideration for compromise and making connections with others.

e.g. You are dying of a disease that can be cured but you have no money for the cure - should you steal it?  Kant would say no.  Mill/Bentham and many others would say yes.

Repeat of Kant in 3 Minutes - watch from the 30 second mark, not before.



Some BIG Questions on Ethics include areas such as:
 - Lying
 - Cheating
 - Stealing
 - Censorship
 - Freedom of Expression
 - War
 - Euthanasia
 - Genetic Engineering
 - The Environment
 - Conservation
 - Preservation
 - Treatment of non-human Animals
 - Intellectual Property
 - Business Practices
 - Advertising
 - Gender and Sexuality

Complete the Handout on Ethical Issues.