Test Your Understanding of Kantian Ethics with This Challenging Quiz

The Ethical Theory of Immanuel Kant

• Kantian ethics is a deontological ethical theory based on the notion that a good will is the only thing that can be considered good without limitation.

• An action can only be moral if it is motivated by a sense of duty and its maxim may be rationally willed as a universal, objective law.

• The categorical imperative is central to Kant's theory of the moral law, and it requires that, for an action to be permissible, it must be possible to apply it to all people without a contradiction occurring.

• Kant's formulation of humanity requires that humans are required never to treat others merely as a means to an end, but always as ends in themselves.

• The formulation of autonomy concludes that rational agents are bound to the moral law by their own will.

• Kant's concept of the Kingdom of Ends requires that people act as if the principles of their actions establish a law for a hypothetical kingdom.

• Kant argued that a good will is a broader conception than a will that acts from duty.

• Kant believed that perfect duties are more important than imperfect duties.

• The foundation of Kant's ethics is the categorical imperative, for which he provides four formulations.

• Kant argued that rational beings can never be treated merely as means to ends; they must always also be treated as ends in themselves.

• Kant's formula of autonomy expresses the idea that an agent is obliged to follow the Categorical Imperative because of their rational will, rather than any outside influence.

• The social contract theory of political philosopher John Rawls, developed in his work A Theory of Justice, was influenced by Kant's ethics.Criticism of Kantian Ethics

• Rawls believed in a hypothetical moment called the original position, where society is ordered behind a veil of ignorance to ensure fairness.

• Thomas Nagel believed that moral actions are motivated by a belief and desire, and that duty is not necessarily the primary motivation to act.

• Onora O'Neill argued for a Kantian approach to social justice, where reason is used as a tool to make decisions, and universalizable principles are those that can be adopted by all.

• Marcia Baron defended Kantian ethics against Michael Stocker's criticism that moral duty is motivated by the wrong thing, arguing that duty is a secondary motive that guides moral agents to act.

• Friedrich Schiller introduced the concept of the "beautiful soul" and criticized Kant for not going far enough in the conception of autonomy.

• G.W.F. Hegel criticized Kantian ethics for not providing specific information about what people should do and for forcing individuals into an internal conflict between reason and desire.

• Arthur Schopenhauer criticized Kant's belief that ethics should concern what ought to be done and argued that ethics should arrive at conclusions that could work in the real world.

• Friedrich Nietzsche criticized Kantian ethics for making metaphysical claims about the nature of humanity, which must be accepted for the system to have any normative force.

• John Stuart Mill criticized Kant for not realizing that moral laws are justified by a moral intuition based on utilitarian principles.

• Virtue ethics, which emphasizes the character of an agent, has been critical of Kant's deontological approach to ethics, with some arguing that theories which rely on a universal moral law are too rigid.

• Some philosophers have suggested that the Kantian conception of ethics rooted in autonomy is contradictory in its dual contention that humans are co-legislators of morality and that morality is a priori.Kantian Ethics and its Applications

• Morality is based on the concept of a rational will and a categorical imperative.

• Kant believed in the principle of universalizability and reason as the basis of morality.

• Medical professionals must respect the autonomy of their patients and provide them with all relevant information for their decisions.

• A Kantian account of autonomy requires respect for choices arrived at rationally, not for those arrived at through idiosyncratic or non-rational means.

• Abortion should be defended according to Kantian ethics, as a woman has the right to control their body.

• The potential to be rational or participation in a generally rational species is the relevant distinction between humans and inanimate objects or irrational animals.

• Sexual intercourse is degrading according to Kant, and he only allowed it within marriage.

• Commercial sex has been criticized for objectifying individuals and not meeting Kant's standard of human autonomy.

• Animals have no moral rights according to Kant, but being cruel to them is wrong as it can influence our attitudes toward humans.

• Kant believed that lying is always wrong, even if it is to prevent harm, as we cannot fully know the consequences of our actions.

• Kant’s theory can be reinterpreted to argue that animal rights are implied by his moral principles.

• Kant and Elshtain both agree that God has no choice but to conform his will to the immutable facts of reason, including moral truths; humans do have such a choice, but otherwise, their relationship to morality is the same as that of God's.