Notes on Kantian Ethics
Deontological (or duty-oriented) theories of ethics (e.g., divine-
command theory, Kantian formalism) assume that the first task of ethics is to determine what we are obligated to do. By doing our duty, we do what is valuable (not the other way around). Divine-command theory says that something is good for no other reason than that God commands it. Kant's ethics
is called formalism because it focuses on the form or structure of a moral
judgment (the fact that all moral directives have the form "you ought
to do X"). The fundamental aim of Kant's ethical theory is to determine
how a command can be a moral command with a particularly obligating
character.
Kant's Ethics
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According to Kant there are several problems with consequentialism
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According to the consequentialist, no act (no matter how evil or cruel)
is right or wrong in itself
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If we are already inclined to do an act because we naturally seek to produce
good consequences (e.g., pleasure, happiness), then we are not acting freely
and therefore not morally responsibly
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Because of differences in their experiences and backgrounds, people differ
as to what are good consequences; therefore, we can never achieve agreement
on the end of moral behavior or on an ulitmate criterion for making such
decisions
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The consequences of our actions are often out of our control, so we cannot
be held responsible for those consequences or have our actions judged based
on them
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Morality is not based on hypothetical imperatives (if you want X--where
X is, for example, happiness--then do Y) but rather on a categorical
imperative (you must do X, regardless). If morality were hypothetical
and people differed in their social and personal goals (as they do), then
their means for attaining those goals (e.g., morality) would differ as
well. But morality should be the kind of thing which does not vary
from individual to individual, because otherwise there would be no point
in providing a reason for behavior other than that it is simply
what one wants to do. In other words, it would be to acknowledge
that there is no reason for acting one way rather than another. But
because we are rational beings, we can give reasons for what we do, and
we can act based on those reasons rather than acting simply because we
want to.
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According to Kant, the fundamental rational principle of moral argument
or reasoning is the categorical imperative: you should act, regardless
of your own aims or purposes, only on maxims (general ways of acting) that
you could will that everyone else also adopts. To test the maxim
for universalizability, you have to ask whether the universal adoption
of such a way of acting would be (1) consistent (i.e., possible) or (2)
acceptable to rational beings.
A maxim such as "lie when you can get away with it" cannot be universalized
consistently (i.e., without contradiction) because, if people lied when
they thought they could get away with it, you would never know when anyone
was telling you the truth; in such a world, there would be no way to tell
the truth from a lie, so its universalization would generate a contradiction.
Another example of this same point: the universalization of "steal when
you can" would create a world in which no one's property would any longer
truly be rightfully his or hers; but if there is no private property any
more, there can be no stealing either, since stealing means taking
someone's private property.
Kant recognizes that it is necessary to add the second test of universalizability
(acceptability) because there are maxims that can be universalized without
contradiction (e.g., "Help out people only when you benefit from it") which
are not universally acceptable. That is, it is possible to imagine
a selfish world where no one helps out others except for personal gain;
however, such a world would not be acceptable to everyone, and the fact
that it does not have universal acceptability makes it a maxim on which
no moral action can be based.
[Note how Kant's Categorical Imperative is different from the Golden Rule
("Do unto others as you would have them to unto you"): it is not based
on what you want but on what is necessary for any being to act rationally
(that is, universally, without consideration of his/her own self-interest).]
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Being rational means being able to act based on motives that are universally
defensible. Thus to act as a human being is not to act as a slave
to one's instincts or passions or as a result of social causes but as ends-in-
themselves.
Human beings can act out of respect for doing something because it is the
rational thing to do, and when they do this they are acting for the
sake of doing their duty; and this is what being moral means, acting
on the basis of a "good will." In this way, they are authors of their
actions (autonomous) and are morally responsible for their intentions,
not the consequences of actions.
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Morality presumes the existence of rational persons. A society of
autonomous, rational persons is a kingdom of ends, a society in which each
individual has dignity, intrinsic worth, and is considered fully responsible
for his or her choices in the making of universal law. [But if everything
is valuable only in terms of moral beings, then what about nature?--Answer:
value is meaningful only in terms of freely chosen ends.] The possibility
for rationality makes humans morally significant, but that does not indicate
specific morally justifiable ways to act.