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What Is Kant's Categorical Imperative

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Kant’s Categorical Imperative of Universal Laws and Humanity People have an intrinsic worth and value above mere things or possessions. In order for people to cohabitate peacefully and respectively, there is a need for universal laws based on good will and absolute moral beliefs. It is this moral belief which is based on reason and that should be uniformly abided by that enables humanity to function as an amicable society. This is achieved by treating ourselves as well as others with respect and dignity. Immanuel Kant’s theory known as the categorical imperative expressed an absolute belief in universal moral laws that enables humanity to be treated well.
Categorical Imperative and Universal Laws
It should be considered that universal …show more content…

One person is not above another as a community of equals. Kant believed, “Act so that you treat humanity, whether your own person or in that of another always as an end and never as a means only.” (qtd Rachels EMP 139) To paraphrase, treat our self and others well and with respect. Do not use people to meet an objective by deceptive means. Treat our self and others as an end and with consideration, but never as a means to an end only. In other words, do not lie in order to get a head or to meet an objective. If it is mutually agreeable to use someone as an end, such as contracting ones services in exchange for compensation, this is not using someone as a means to an end only. It is a contract between two individuals that is forthright and agreeable to both parties. Two rational parties that are capable of moral behavior.
Kant’s Exclusive Morality
For Kant, morality is exclusive to humanity. While people cannot be used as a means to an end only, non-human animals are possessions and can be used as a means to an end or for the benefit of humanity. While Kant disapproved of cruelty to animals, it is not out of concern for the animal, but because it could corrupt the individual when dealing with other people. (Rachels EMP 137) Those who treat other people poorly and with disregard are deserving of the same treatment. It is an eye for an eye mentality.
Kant Universal Law and Retribution …show more content…

(Rachels EMP 146) This seems to contradict the universal law of morality as society would not want a law that provides treating others poorly as acceptable moral behavior. That being said, Kant believed in retribution for those who broke the law and would harm others. Those individuals deserve punishment in proportion to their crimes including capital punishment for the severest of crimes. According to Rachels, “The traditional answer is that punishment is justified as a way of “paying back” the offender for his wicked deed.” (qtd Rachels EMP 140) Obviously, people who commit heinous crimes deserve to be punished and society deserves justice and protection. However, it can be said that justice is not served by taking the life of the perpetrator. It can also be said that there is more retribution in a criminal living out a life sentence in incarceration as each day of their life they pay for their

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Thus bringing in to account the principle of lex talionis. Which is the right to be paid back with similar harm and the equality of persons. Meaning an eye for an eye, they deserve it because they did it therefore intimidating people from murdering because they don’t want to die. It is also to be said through Kantian ethics that a rational individual who kills another authorizes his own execution. Executing murderers sets as a statement that murder is absolutely evil and will not be tolerated.

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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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Green Grass Running Water Essay Green Grass Running Water is a novel that displays a different style of narrative that gives the reader a similar feeling to storytelling. Green Grass Running Water closely reflects the history of the colonialism on Turtle Island and directly shows the racial and political ideology that permits colonialism on Turtle Island. Colonizers came to Turtle Island in order to improve their process of colonization. They treat the Indigenous people cruelly then use people and symbolic items to justify their act of mistreatment; this unfair conduct has been maintained throughout history and the Indigenous people have had most of their culture suppressed as a result of colonial society coming to Turtle Island.

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In his brief essay, “On a Supposed Right to Lie from Altruistic Motives”, Immanuel Kant emphasizes how essential it is to be truthful and how our duty to be truthful outweighs any other duties we have to ourselves to ourselves or to humanity. Altruistic can be described as a genuinely moral act. People who are altruistic take action for the benefit of others and deem other people’s interests more important than their own interests. Kant believes that people should always do what is right, no matter what the outcome holds. I affirm that Kant believes praising truthfulness above all other duties because he believes it is morally wrong to hurt the dignity of others.

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Many people love to give back for many different reasons. In this situation if you were acting according to duty you many say “I will help people because I like helping people.” Kant thinks that this is how you personally would want to deal with the situation. You enjoy the satisfaction of making others happy and you want to make a difference in the world(8d). You like helping people and making them happy, so by acting according to duty, you are doing what you want to make a difference in someone’s life(8b).

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Ava Schilsky PHIL 1001H Dr. Colette 4 March 2023 Immanuel Kant’s “The Good Will and the Categorical Imperative” explores the nature of morality and good will with use of allegories and philosophical explanations. He argues that “good will” is the only inherently good thing in the world; unlike “power, riches, honor, and even health,” good will is incorruptible. In contradiction to consequentialism, Kant asserts that the morality of an action is decided by the intentions behind it rather than the consequences. Additionally, this German philosopher makes the distinction between two different impetus for action: either out of respect for the moral law or out of respect for a duty or obligation.

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Kant was of the view that the world as we know it is independent of the human concept of it and that mind is the source of morality and ethics. For his theory of Morality, Kant presented three formulations based on the principle of universalizability. The principle of universalizability states that all good actions must be applicable to anyone. If a contradiction occurs when the action cannot be called good.

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So, Kant’s . Is that a person should not do favors for others if they are only hoping to receive equal or more pay out instead of just doing what’s right for someone.

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The end does not justify the means. This was the principal ethical theory of Immanuel Kant and made up his ‘Categorical Imperative’, a deontological argument which showcased how certain actions are fundamentally wrong, such as murder, lying or torture and can therefore, never be justified. Contrastingly a utilitarian would claim that the ends do in fact justify the means and would enact a focus on outcomes in deciding whether or not an action is morally permissible. In 2002 Jakob Von Metzler, a boy of just twelve years, was kidnapped and a police officer threatened the kidnapper, Magnus Gafgen, with torture in an attempt to find and save the child. Gafgen told the officer that he had killed the boy and then disclosed the location of the body.

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Immanuel Kant is an influential philosopher, known for his work in ethics and a supporter of the death penalty. According to Avaliani (2004), Kant developed the first scientific approach to capital punishment (Avaliani, 2004). His theory argues that if a crime violates social laws then it is punishable. If an individual commits murder, then their punishment must be death. Avaliani (2004), states that according to Kant 's theory of the death penalty, the court is justified in giving an offender, that has taken innocent life capital punishment.

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Should the state execute more? This part will linked the article to Kant’s point of view regarding the death penalty. The biblical argument to uphold capital punishment is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, the argument of retribution. According to the article, the argument is quite logic after reading it, death penalty could be apply in that case because of the revenge and the hatred this murder brings. Kill the criminal in order to avoid risk for the society.

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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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Justice is when the moral books are balanced” (Winston). It was the initial act of the criminal that led him to this consequence. Right to life for humans should only be limited to those who have respect for the rights of others. As the famous saying by Cicero goes, “Let the punishment match the offense”. Only death penalty is justifiable

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The categorical imperative basically universalises everyone regardless of all circumstances and purposes (if it would be morally good for everyone to do it, and not just one being, Kantian morals then allow for it). Before taking a Kantian point of view, one must first determine the starting point of life (conception? six weeks? first heart beat? at birth?)

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Kant provides a definition of the categorical imperative, “ A categorical imperative would be one that represented an action as itself objectively necessary, without regard to any further end” (Kant 337). In other words, a categorical imperative is a moral law that absolute in any test or situation, and does not depend on the end result or an ulterior motive. The Formula of Universal Law depends on the reasoning, “ Act only on that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law” (Kant 330). This means that whatever your action is, it would be recast to apply to everyone. In this case the maxim is the rationality for doing an action, which has a end goal.

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