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Categorical Imperative Case Study

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The German automotive company, Volkswagen, was recently involved in an unethical car emission scandal. James Liang, a Volkswagen engineer, pleaded guilty to creating a software program inside over 500,000 Volkswagen diesel cars to manipulate the emissions rating for the cars. This software program would allow the cars that had high levels of nitrogen oxide emissions to pass the car emission tests and be sold in the United States. Some cars released up to forty times the legal standard limit of car emissions. This is an unethical decision by Volkswagen and James Liang because they did not go about their actions with good will. Additionally, Volkswagen did not consider the consequences if someone were to catch the company producing cars with …show more content…

A good will is defined maintaining moral value even if the actions do not accomplish its original intentions. The will is only considered good when it aligns with personal duty. Kant states duty should act from the respect of the moral law, and moral law is defined by the categorical imperative. The categorical imperative is a system that defines if a decision made by an individual is morally right or wrong in every circumstance based on an individual's moral obligations. The categorical imperative has a test to determine if the person's actions contain good will and duty. The test defines the maxim, which is the subjective principle within the situation, questions the generalization of the maxim in terms of good or bad …show more content…

Mentioned previously, Kant's theory is based on a person's moral will and duty. In the court case, Liang and Volkswagen did not portray a good will or duty based on Kant's moral theory. For example, the maxim and universal law for this court case are, one should not lie because if everyone in the universe were to lie, then no one would believe in others, and the truth would be considered a lie. The initiative Volkswagen and Liang took to develop the software program created a lie towards Volkswagen customers and the United States citizens. Furthermore, the development of the software program is considered as a lie because the program generated false emissions test readings, allowing Volkswagen to sell their diesel cars. Therefore, if Volkswagen and Liang approached the emissions issue with a Kantian approach, the company would not have developed the emissions software program, which would prevent the court case. If Volkswagen approached the emissions issue from a utilitarian standpoint, then Volkswagen would consider what would be the consequences if the company was caught developing the software and what the probability would be for them to get

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I will also explain why I believe Kant’s theory is the most appropriate theory when answering moral questions in general. I believe that, although difficult, President Truman made the correct decision in deploying the atomic bomb on Japan. My opinion falls in line with Mill’s moral theory of Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is a consequentialist moral theory that focuses on the use of maximizing one’s utility for the best consequences for the

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Immanuel Kant’s, Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals, pages 516-521, discusses the concept of the categorical imperative. The categorical imperative serves as the foundational principle for moral reasoning. Kant states, “There is therefore only one categorical imperative and it is this: “Act only on that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law,” (Kant, 516). He explains the categorical imperative as a universal moral law. He says it applies to all rational beings.

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With the idea of a categorical imperative for a duty, it follows the though of it being pure. Being a pure thought and taken from experiences we can get morally actions as they are truly intuitive. Such as helping one another is moral and priori. Although we can be taught to help others, all are born with the thought of helping each other. It follows the rules of nature, as humans are social creature.

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Kant also introduces the idea of categorical imperative: the idea that one can check the morality of an action based on whether or not the action can be followed universally and it does not use other humans as expendable objects. All in all, Kant provides a framework for thinking about moral actions as intention-based, universally-applicable, and humanely-respectable.

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Kant argued that morality presented itself to human agents in the form of the categorical imperative and the argument for deontology. The categorical imperative states that a person must “Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law”. This is based on the age old, “do unto others as you would have them unto you”. Kant argued a person must embrace that what they do is only alright if it is

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As a deontological (duty-based) philosopher, Kant believes that morality is based on duty and respect. He emphasizes rationality as the only significant fact relevant to morality. His formulation of the categorical imperative serves to launch his argument regarding what it means to be truly moral and what it takes to universalize a moral law. The aim of Kant’s work was to establish

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Kant formulated an ethical standard through which to judge maxims and define morality. Kant’s Speaks about the categorical imperative, which is an imperative that says some action is required in and of itself, a duty. The categorical imperative judge’s maxims as so, do things in which you would want what you’re doing to become universal law.

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Kant presented the three main points that are the two Categorical Imperative and Good Will. Good will is the basic of Kant 's ethics. Categorical Imperative in the behavior value is the foundation of Kant 's ethics. Kant was based on the "Categorical Imperative" to test behavior justified or not (CSUS 2016). Kant is define the Good Will as the only thing good in itself which is means doing something because you think is good doesn’t make the action good (Shaw et al.

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Immanuel Kant believed that genuine morality was based on reason, with a catch that is. Kant spent a considerable amount of his life attempting to distinguish human nature apart from animal nature. He concluded that humans possessed the divine trait of reason and through a sense of duty should apply that very same trait in order to become worthy of happiness. In his pursuit to systematically define human morality, Kant, composed the Categorical Imperative. The foundational concept of this work was a stated: Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law without contradiction.

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German philosopher Immanuel Kant accepted the basic proposition that a theory of duties and rules telling us what we are obligated to do was the right approach to ethical problems (Velasquez, 2012). Kant wanted a way to gather all of the principle or duty that we have been talking about to work together, instead of leaving us confused between being only loyal to one principle or duty. Kant argued moral requirements are on a standard of the categorical imperative. Therefore, Kant believed that categorical imperative is based on the principle to determine whether one’s actions is ethically correct, in other words an ethical rule that does not depend on circumstances (Velasquez, 2012). Kant proposed two versions of categorical imperatives: first

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The selected corporation is the Volkswagen, a German car manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. The Volkswagen’s corporate website is http://www.vw.com/. According to the International Ethical Business Registry, there has been a dramatic increase in the ethical expectations of businesses and professions over the past ten years. Increasingly, customers, clients and employees are deliberately seeking out those who define the basic ground rules of their operations on a day to day. Volkswagen is no different, hence it created its own code of ethics in order to improve the company’s operation all over the world.

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According to Kant, he believes that our actions must conform to the Categorical Imperative. Kant supported that moral obligations arise when other people are not involved. He also argued that we have a perfect duty for ourselves not to commit suicide. Kant believed that certain types of actions such as lying, suicide, and murder, and stealing were prohibited. Our moral actions are based on the categorical imperative because our moral actions are that cannot be opt out or claim that it doesn’t apply to us.

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Immanuel Kant insisted that the rightness of an action cannot be based on consequences that are actual or intended. This view is based on the concept of deontology, in which is the rightness or wrongness is not dependent on the consequences but rather it fulfills a duty morally. It gives the criteria of rightness and moral requirement actions are understood to be right or wrong in themselves. As Kant being a deontologist he believes that there is a supreme morality of principle, thus this principle is known as the Categorical Imperative. The Categorical Imperative are moral requirements that are rationally independent of any condition and an unconditional moral obligation that is binding in all circumstances and is not dependent on a person's

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Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill are two of the most notable philosophers in normative ethics. This branch of ethics is based on moral standards that determine what is considered morally right and wrong. This paper will focus on Immanuel Kant’s theory of deontology and J.S. Mill’s theory of utilitarianism. While Mill takes a consequentialist approach, focused on the belief that actions are right if they are for the benefit of a majority, Kant is solely concerned with the nature of duty and obligation, regardless of the outcome. This paper will also reveal that Kantian ethics, in my opinion, is a better moral law to follow compared to the utilitarian position.

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Immanuel Kant’s moral theory differs greatly from the other theories we have learned about, especially Mill’s view of utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is based on the consequences of actions, while Kantian Ethics focuses on the intentions a person has before they act, and if they are fulfilling their duty as a person when acting. Kant explains his theory by providing examples of different people who are all doing the same action, but for different reasons. He discusses a store owner who charges everyone equal prices and explains that this only has moral worth if he is acting from duty, meaning he does this because it is what is right. The act is not moral if he acts in accordance with duty, or because he is worried about his reputation or business.

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