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Kant's Formula Of The Universal Law And Formula Of Humanity

1455 Words6 Pages

In the first half of my essay I shall present and discuss the advice that Kant would offer to a doctor, using his Formula of the Universal Law and Formula of Humanity. I will be explaining what each formula aims to show and how they relate to the possible choices the doctor has. From there, I will discuss whether the two formulas produce the same moral verdict and examine the potential connections between the formulas that make the similar moral verdicts possible. In these next few paragraphs, I will be explaining what the Formula of the Universal Law and Formula of Humanity are, then describe the type of advice Kant would offer based off these formulas. We are to imagine that a patient named George went to his favored health-provider, Dr. …show more content…

Smith to tell George the truth about the test and to let him make the decision of whether or not he wants to get tested on his own. The Formula of the Universal Law states that we are to “act only in accordance with that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it become a universal law” (AK 4:421), meaning that we should only behave in ways in which we would be okay with other people behaving. The formula aims to show the importance of individuals behaving morally well for the sake that it is their moral duty. As well as to show individuals that a majority of times we would not will for our maxims to become universal law, but that we make exceptions for ourselves because we believe it is something we should do. This relates to Dr. Smith’s case because if she were to tell George that the procedure is routine and painless, she would be acting on the maxim that it is okay to lie because she believes it will result in positive consequences. She would not appreciate it someone else lied to her, even if it was for the sake of helping her, because they deceived her. If the individual truly believed that whatever action was necessary for the sake of Dr. Smith, then Dr.Smith would have also realized the importance of the action and came to the conclusion of doing it herself. In the case of George, she is making an exception to the rule of lying because she believes that George would be unable to come up with that conclusion himself, and takes it upon herself to make the decision for him. If this were to become universal law then everybody would lie because they would believe it to end in favorable consequences, even if it ends up being favorable only for themselves. This would result in a contradiction because not everyone would accept the lies because they know that it may only result in a favorable consequence for the

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