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Immanuel Kant Categorical Imperative

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In this paper, I will investigate one of Immanuel Kant’s formulations of the categorical imperative – the humanities as ends formulation. In his work, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals, he states that the function of reason is to generate a will that is “good in itself”, as opposed to good for other purposes (Marino 194). Kant mentions that reason’s demands could be called “imperatives”. He defines two types of imperatives – the hypothetical imperative and the categorical imperative (Marino 210). The former tells us that a specific action is necessary only as a means to some purpose. The latter implies that some action is necessary in and of itself. The author defines the categorical imperative as a principle that governs …show more content…

He says that the good person has a good will and that will is good not because of its effects, but because of its intention. What intention does the good will have? Kant tells us that our only motive for doing what is right should be simply because it is the right thing to do. We should act in accord with duty or the sake of it. This leads us back to the universal law formulation of the categorical imperative, which states that our actions should be universalized so that people can all benefit from each other. The author gives us several examples of how common notions of duty agree with the universal law formulation of the categorical imperative. Each of these examples has a special meaning to the universal law standard. The first one prohibits lying. In this example, Kant is suggesting that we have a duty to borrow money only if we pay it back. What if we don’t pay it back? The author says, “When I think myself in want of money, I will borrow money and promise to repay it, although I know I never can do so.” (Marino 218), and he poses the question, “How would it be if my maxim were a universal law?” (Marino 218). The answer is simple. If everybody failed to keep their promises, then no one will be loyal to others and we will all live in a world full of lies. The second example that Kant mentions is that it prohibits suicide (Marino 217). The reasoning behind it is straightforward. Clearly there cannot be a universal law standard, if every human being committed suicide. If that happened, the world will be an “empty” place – without human life. The third example that Kant states is that the universal law formulation encourages us to develop our talents – we have a duty to cultivate them (Marino 218). This instance is suggesting that if every person flourishes his/her talents, then everybody would benefit from one another making this a universal good. The final example that the author talks about is

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The implication of this being that in order for an action to be moral why it is done must be able to be why it is done by anyone, anywhere, at any time. A clear example of this imperative comes when one considers lying. If one lies and presumes that lie to be moral, that lie must then be able to be made the universal law. If lying were the universal law one could not lie as lying relies on truth-telling as universal law to serve its function. In his second formulation, Kant states "Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of another, always at the same time as an end and never simply as a means."

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According to Categorical Imperative, what would it be like if everyone started making false promises and it became a universal law? It would be a undesirable situation where the very notion of ‘promise’ would collapse. Therefore, it is a duty of every rational being not to make a lying promise. Such duties are called strict duties to others. Strict Duties to self : A man is in a very miserable condition.

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As Kant analyzes in his book, the universalization of a lying promise to where everyone lies when making a promise, the institution of promises collapses as every pledge can no longer be trusted. With the collapse of promises, the ability to trust also collapses as there becomes no purpose for telling the truth if no one believes one’s word. As a further Kantian position, the mother, when making the transaction, stated that she would use the money to feed her malnourished son but then proceeded to use it to develop her talents, meaning she broke the initial promise. When this maxim of promise-breaking is universalized, the institution of promise-making collapses as trust has eroded from the institution of promise-making. This story also comes with a meta-ethical concept of cultural relativism, which means that morality varies from culture to culture—shown in the first paragraph, the mother claims that letting a child become malnourished is more immoral than theft in her culture.

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Critiques of Kantian moral philosophy on the basis of emptiness come from a variety of thinkers and from many different schools of thought. For example, Mill claims the universal law permits commonly immoral behavior and can only become consistent by resorting to Utilitarianism. ‘ ‘All he shows is that the consequences of their universal adoption would be such as no one would choose to incur’’ (Mill.Uti.162). Mill criticizes Kant for failing to identify ‘‘the actual duties of morality’’ (Mill.

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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.

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Immanuel Kant, a renowned philosopher, reflected upon the fundamental question of ethics concerning what makes a moral action wrong or right. In the “Groundwork for Metaphysic of Morals” by Kant, he claims that the only thing good is without qualification is “the good will.” Kant’s idea/belief highlights the essence of moral intentions and duty over self-interest or external factors, but it overlooks the importance of outcomes and consequences in determining moral goodness. His ideology sparks philosophical discourse, which leads to varied ethical perspectives regarding moral intention versus the outcomes of determining moral goodness. According to Kant, an act is considered good if done from moral duty and is not influenced by personal desires or external factors.

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What Kant gives us is the closest in pure structure to the form of law, the Formula of Universal Law. This characterization of the form of law, which has been simplified here, nevertheless, is confronted with Hegel’s criticism. Hegel thinks that a moral principle needs content in order to choose between two different concrete states of affairs or between different systems of property. But it is clear that the CI is a supreme moral principle not limited by or to any particular world, but instead covers all possible worlds.

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“Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law”. This idea had been around for a long time through many teachings of religion. The phrase has evolved from “ Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” to “treat others the way you want to be treated”. Although Kant believed that people should think logically rather than religiously, Kant believed that religion had a good foundation for societies. One of the ten commandment reads “thou shalt not steal”.

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Second, Kant was aware that it makes no sense to blame people for what is beyond their control; the consequences of what we do are often beyond our control, subject to accidents or interruptions that we could not possibly have predicted using logic or science. Kant said, “the only thing that is good without qualification is a good will”—in other words, our good intentions and attempts to do

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I hope to convince the reader that Kant’s Categorical Imperative is the better way to live a morally conscious life and more practical to follow as well. First I will briefly describe both Kant’s and Mill’s principles. Then I will go on to explain the advantages and disadvantages of both. Finally, I hope to provide a counterargument for some of Kant’s Categorical Imperatives downfalls. Kant states the Categorical Imperative as: "Act as if the maxim of your action were to become through your will and general natural law."

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Topic:- The Critical Study of Kant’s Doctrine of Right. Introduction: What is Right? A right is the sovereignty to act without the permission of others.

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As such, she constructs a process of analysis that is based on two different, yet connected frameworks, conceptual and volitional contradictions. Conceptual contradictions note that the maxims in reference to contradictions tend to ignore the fundamental core of the maxim, that it is a principle of action, or a principle that we will. Much like Korsgaard’s Logical Contradiction Interpretation, the conceptual contradiction is based on analyzing whether the unsuccessful universalization of the maxim leading to a contradiction would fundamentally prevent the intent of the maxim from being realized; for example, if one posits the maxim that ‘one should break promises’, the universalization of this maxim would eliminate the practice of promises, preventing one from breaking promises. To this she adds a concept of volitional contradiction, volitional contradictions can be based on conceptually consistent maxims, but only if these maxims ignore the fundamental importance of willing. To will is to intend to make something occur, rather than just wishing it were the case, in which one analyzes whether the means, components and consequences of the universalization of the maxim would fundamentally

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First, I will explain the Formula of Universal Law and focus on the ethical position of duty belonging to Kant’s deontological ethics. Next, I’ll present Kant’s lying promise case and will analyze his explanation of it being immoral through the Formula of Universal Law. Finally, I’ll end by stating my disagreement with Kant’s

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Accountancy is one of the quickest developing areas of business activity and plays a significant part in business. Studying this course will enable me to acquire a greater understanding of the world around me while also opening a lot of doors for me. Although accounting and finance will be a new subject for me, I feel that I have already developed an interest due to being brought up in business-orientated family with both my Mother and Grandfather owning successful businesses. I have been able to learn how a business is run and managed which includes the regulatory and legislative rules that need to be adhered to. I have very strong numerical skills with Maths being my favourite subject.

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Kant believes that most people know right from wrong; the problem most people have is not in knowing what is morally, but in doing it. Kant also argued that rightness or wrongness of particular acts is determined by rules; these rules could be determined by his principle of universalizability. He also argued reason require not only that moral duties be universal but also absolutely binding. For instance, when lying is the only option to save someone’s life, still we shall not lie for it is morally wrong to lie. Kant introduced categorical imperative which states that people ought to do something regardless of the consequences.

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