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    GEC 8 Lesson 5 Immanuel Kant and Deontological Ethics

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    Don Lornel Valencia
    1. Kant's deontological ethics is based on the concept of duty and obligation rather than consequences of actions. 2. For Kant, the only intrinsically good thing is a good will, which means acting from duty based on universal moral laws that apply to all people. 3. Kant believed we have perfect duties, like not killing others, that are always obligatory, as well as imperfect duties that allow for personal discretion. 4. The categorical imperative is the foundation of Kant's ethics, requiring that we only act based on maxims that could become universal laws without contradiction.

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    GEC 8 Lesson 5 Immanuel Kant and Deontological Ethics

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    Don Lornel Valencia
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    1. Kant's deontological ethics is based on the concept of duty and obligation rather than consequences of actions. 2. For Kant, the only intrinsically good thing is a good will, which means acting from duty based on universal moral laws that apply to all people. 3. Kant believed we have perfect duties, like not killing others, that are always obligatory, as well as imperfect duties that allow for personal discretion. 4. The categorical imperative is the foundation of Kant's ethics, requiring that we only act based on maxims that could become universal laws without contradiction.

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    1. Kant's deontological ethics is based on the concept of duty and obligation rather than consequences of actions. 2. For Kant, the only intrinsically good thing is a good will, which means acting from duty based on universal moral laws that apply to all people. 3. Kant believed we have perfect duties, like not killing others, that are always obligatory, as well as imperfect duties that allow for personal discretion. 4. The categorical imperative is the foundation of Kant's ethics, requiring that we only act based on maxims that could become universal laws without contradiction.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    60 views10 pages

    GEC 8 Lesson 5 Immanuel Kant and Deontological Ethics

    Uploaded by

    Don Lornel Valencia
    1. Kant's deontological ethics is based on the concept of duty and obligation rather than consequences of actions. 2. For Kant, the only intrinsically good thing is a good will, which means acting from duty based on universal moral laws that apply to all people. 3. Kant believed we have perfect duties, like not killing others, that are always obligatory, as well as imperfect duties that allow for personal discretion. 4. The categorical imperative is the foundation of Kant's ethics, requiring that we only act based on maxims that could become universal laws without contradiction.

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    of 10

    GEC 8 ETHICS

    DEONTOLOGICAL ETHICS: IMMANUEL KANT

    Instructor: Luis Manuel Paita, PhD


    Deontological Ethics
    Deontology - from Greek “deon” which means obligation, duty

    Deontological Ethics is the normative ethical theory that the morality of an action
    should be based on whether that action itself is right or wrong under a series of rules,
    rather than based on the consequences of the action.

    An action is morally acceptable if motivated by moral obligation. A moral obligation


    may arise from an external or internal source, such as a set of rules inherent to the
    universe, religious law, or a set of personal or cultural values (any of which may be in
    conflict with personal desires).

    The term "deontological" was first used by C. D. Broad in his 1930 book, Five Types of
    Ethical Theory. Older usage of the term goes back to Jeremy Bentham, who coined it
    before 1816 as a synonym of Dicastic or Censorial Ethics (ethics based on judgement).

    Much of definitions on deontological ethics is found in an ancient Tamil literature


    Thirukural, which is believed to be written in between 300 BCE and 5th century CE.
    Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
    • Born April 22, 1724 to a religious and lower middle-class family
    • Studied at Pietistic Friedrichskolleg of Konigsberg, East Prussia (now
    Kaliningrad, Russia)
    • Continued studies at the University of Konigsberg
    • From 1746-1755 worked as a tutor for rich families
    • Appointed as instructor and eventually awarded full professorship
    • Best-known writings:
    • General Natural History and Theory of Heavens (1755)
    • Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785)
    • Critique of Practical Reason (1788)
    • Metaphysics of Morals (1785)
    • Religion Within the Limits of Reason (1792)
    Deontology in Immanuel Kant's
    Theory of Ethics (1)
    1. To act in the morally right way, people must act from duty.
    • The highest good must be both good in itself (intrinsically good) and good without
    qualification (the addition of that thing never makes a situation ethically worse)
    • Those things that are usually thought to be good, such as intelligence, perseverance and
    pleasure, fail to be either intrinsically good or good without qualification.
    • Pleasure, for example, appears not to be good without qualification, because when people
    take pleasure in watching someone suffer, this seems to make the situation ethically
    worse.
    2. It is not the consequences of actions that make them right or wrong but the motives of the person
    who carries out the action. A moral act is one that is done out of good will.
    • Consequences of an act cannot be used to determine that the person has a good will;
    good consequences could arise by accident from an action that was motivated by a desire
    to cause harm to an innocent person, and bad consequences could arise from an action
    that was well-motivated.
    • A person has a good will when he 'acts out of respect for the moral law'. People 'act out of
    respect for the moral law' when they act in some way because they have a duty to do so.
    Kantian Ethics: Key Concepts
    • A Priori Truths: Autonomous Reason, Goodwill and Duty

    • The foundation of ethical living is Reason


    • The source is , Goodwill
    • The motivation is Duty/Obligation

    • Autonomous reasoning
    • Emphasis on internal goodwill vs external good
    • “Man as an End in Himself”
    • Duty or obligation must not be passed on to others
    • Universalizability
    • One’s definition of duty or obligation ought to be acceptable and
    applicable to others in similar situation
    Duty
    Duties to ourselves versus duties to others.
    • For example, we have an obligation not to kill ourselves as well as an obligation not to kill others.

    • “Perfect" and "imperfect" Duties:

    Perfect duty
    • Duties that are blameworthy if not met, as they are a basic required duty for a human
    being.
    • According to Kant’s his reasoning, we first have a perfect duty not to act by maxims that
    result in logical contradictions when we attempt to universalize them.
    • Example: "It is permissible to steal" would result in a contradiction upon universalization.
    The notion of stealing presupposes the existence of personal property, but were stealing
    universalized, then there could be no personal property, and so the proposition has
    logically negated itself.
    Imperfect duty
    • Duties that allow for individual desires in how they are carried out in practice.
    • Because these depend somewhat on the subjective preferences of humans, this duty is not
    as strong as a perfect duty, but it is still morally binding.
    • As such, unlike perfect duties, you do not attract blame should you not complete an
    imperfect duty but you shall receive praise for it should you complete it.
    • A particular example provided by Kant is the imperfect duty to cultivate one's own talents.
    Hypothetical vs Categorical
    Imperatives
    • Hypothetical Imperatives
    • Most of the time, whether or not we ought to do something is not a
    moral choice – instead, it’s just contingent on our desires
    • IF you want x, THEN you ought to do y

    • Categorical Imperatives – Commands you must follow regardless of your


    desires. Moral obligations are derived from pure reason.

    • It doesn’t matter if you want to be moral or not – the moral law is


    binding on all of us
    • You don’t need religion to know what that law is, because what’s
    right or wrong is knowable by using your intellect.
    Categorical Imperative:
    The Universalizability Formulation
    “Act only according to that maxim which you can at the same time will
    that it should become a universal law without contradiction.”
    — Immanuel Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals

    “I ought never to act except in such a way that I could also will that my
    maxim should become a universal law”

    “maxim” – a rule or principle of action


    “universal law” = something that must always be done in similar situations

    Example: Is it morally acceptable to kill someone for insulting you?

    What would happen if I made the maxim of this action a universal law (i.e.,
    you must kill anyone who insults you)? Is this universalization possible?
    Does it make sense?

    If everyone did this, we’d swiftly and surely run out of people to kill, and it
    would no longer be possible to follow the law. Because of this logical
    contradiction, Kant felt that we have a perfect duty to not kill people.
    Categorical Imperative:
    The Humanity Formulation
    Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or
    in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always
    at the same time as an end. ”
    — Immanuel Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals

    Also referred to as the “end in itself” formulation – Which occurs when


    people try to use ‘Maxims’ rules to suit themselves, this formulation states
    that we must not treat others as if they do not have their own life, we must
    respect that they do.

    Example: It may be my duty to give maybe a few pennies I have to spare to


    charity but a homeless man cannot DEMAND that i do so because I am not a
    means to his end and e must respect that.

    “mere means – to use it only for your own benefit, with no thought to the
    interest or benefit of the thing you’re using.”
    • We’re not mere objects that exist to be used by others. We’re our own
    ends. We’re rational and autonomous. We have the ability to set our
    own goals, and work toward them
    Categorical Imperative: The Kingdom
    of Ends Formulation
    “Act as though through your maxims you could become a legislator of
    universal laws”

    • Every rational being must so act as if he were through his maxim


    always a legislating member in a universal kingdom of ends.

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