Immanuel Kant.docx

Immanuel Kant Ethics is about finding out and complying with what is your duty A Priori A priori = from the former, deriving from what was before Indicate a truth/piece of knowledge/statement that does not require any empirical procedure in order to be ascertained Examples Definitions or logical con...

Immanuel Kant Ethics is about finding out and complying with what is your duty A Priori A priori = from the former, deriving from what was before Indicate a truth/piece of knowledge/statement that does not require any empirical procedure in order to be ascertained Examples Definitions or logical consequences of definitions (Friday comes after Wednesday)  Only need to know what the word means; statement is true, but you don’t need to make an experiment to prove it  Wednesday is per definition the third day of the week and Friday the fifth Tautologies (it either rains or it does not)  only one of the two state can be true & and is always true Mathematical truths Kant’s idea of reason is not instrumental reason but pure practical reason, which legislates a priori, regardless of all empirical ends Rationality and Freedom At the root of the dignity and worth possessed by every human being is human self-governing reason  Kant as an Enlightenment philosopher We all have dignity because every human has reason Self-governing reason means autonomy: I do not simply accept dogmas, I thing about things myself  without external input  I can generate moral laws & decide what is right and what is wrong o We are autonomous beings, capable of acting and choosing freely  When reason governs over will, we are not driven by the desire to seek pleasure and avoid pain Autonomously generating the laws that bind rational and moral behaviour o You look inside yourself, you don’t need to do anything to have reason – you just need to use it Ethical truths are a priori  You access your reason but you have not developed it o Aristotle opposite: you need to practice and first you rely on experts and learn Rejection of utilitarianism o just because something gives many people pleasure doesn’t make it right; the mere fact that the majority, however big, favours a certain law does not make the law just morality can’t be based on merely empirical considerations, such as the interests, wants, desires, and preferences people have at any given time these factors are  variable and contingent does not teach us how to distinguish right from wrong, but only to become better at calculation What is Freedom we didn’t choose to be hungry or thirsty  whenever we are seeking to satisfy desires, everything we do is for the sake of some end given outside us; I go this way to assuage my hunger, that way to slake my thirst o we are not acting freely To act freely is to act autonomously = act according to a law that I give myself When we act autonomously we do something for its own sake, as an end in itself The starry heavens above me and the moral law within me You have a moral compass within you o As the law of physics o As you can with your senses see the stars o You need no external input to see them Starry heavens o I perceive as a person with my senses Annihilates my importance as an animal creature which after being there for a short time must give back to the planet the matter from which it came You feel ‘unworthy’ Moral law Personality does not need sense to be discovered Infinitely elevates my worth, in which the moral law reveals to me a life independent of animality Not limited to the conditions and boundaries of this life but reaches into the infinite o When we look inside ourselves, we see the moral law The Aims of Ethics The Highest Good for humanity is complete moral virtue together with complete happiness, the former being the condition for deserving the latter  You cannot be happy without being virtuous  similar to Aristotle’s thought, but meaning of virtues and happiness is different The Categorical Imperative Categorical = unconditional; does not depend on anything else , always applies Imperative = command; it is an order that is issued from within yourself & you should always  obey o Everyone shares the same reason & eventually has the same conclusion about what is right and what is wrong This means that everyone who exercises pure practical reason will reach the same conclusion – will arrive at a single (universal) categorical imperative We will not hold actions to be obligatory because they are God’s commands, but will rather regard them as divine commands because we are internally obligated to them o Your own reason tells you what is right and what is wrong Universal: recognises all human beings, purely in virtue of their reason Impartial: applies to every human being under any circumstances, without exceptions o No need for training (as with Aristotle), you need a guideline (universal law) & your reason is essentially enough First Formula of Universal Law: ‘Act as if the maxim of your action were to become, through your will, a universal law.’ = virtuous behaviour = morally sound Maxim: the motive or principle inspiring your action; your ‘plan’ o What matters is the motive and the motive; a good will is good in itself, whether or not it prevails The right motive is duty = doing the right things for the right reason  All attempts to satisfy our wants, desires, preferences and appetites, Kant calls motives of inclination lack moral worth  Universalising is a test for the maxim’s moral evaluation o Apply to a world in which everyone acts according to my maxim o You can make this decision just by using your own reasoning Maxims failing the test: unfairness, dishonesty If an action is effective for achieving a certain end only because most people do not do it, it will not be effective o It is a way of checking to see if the action I am about to undertake puts my interests and special circumstances ahead of everyone else’s Second Formula of Universal Law: ‘Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never simply as means, but always as an end.’ Do not take away dignity form other humans  respect everyone! People are not objects or tools Morality is about respecting persons as ends in themselves Powerful basis for what the eighteenth-century revolutionaries called the rights of man, and what we in the early twenty-first century call universal human rights o For Kant justice requires us to uphold the human rights to all persons, regardless of where they live or how well we know them, simply because they are human beings, capable of reason, and therefore worthy of respect  Connection between formulations: when acting on maxims failing the test of universalisation (immoral maxims) you are using others as means, not as ends if you do something that is effective only because most people do not do it, their actions are making your action work you are using other people’s honesty/fairness  to make your action effective = you are using them as means Link between morality and freedom: acting morally means acting out of duty – for the sake of the moral law; the moral law consists of the categorical imperative, a principles that requires us to treat persons with respect, as end in themselves; only when I act in accordance with the categorical imperative am I acting freely ; for whenever I act according to a hypothetical imperative, I act for the sake of some interest or end given outside of me; but in that case, I am not really free, my will is determines not by me, but by outside forces I can escape the dictates of nature an circumstance only by acting autonomously, according to a law I give myself; Such a law must be unconditioned by my particular wants and desires Acting freely, that means autonomously, and acting morally, according to the categorical imperative, are one and the same In short supreme principle of morality: The categorical imperative what you should do: conform you actions to the categorical imperative morally worth action are those autonomous actions which are motivated by obedience to the moral law self-generated within every human being Morality: Duty vs Inclination o Duty: only motive of moral worth o Inclination: outside influences Freedom: Autonomy vs Heteronomy o Autonomy: I am free only when my will is determined autonomously, governed by a law I give to myself Heteronomy: My will is determined externally, from outside of me  if we are capable of freedom, we must be capable of acting not according to a law that is given or imposed on us, but according to a law we give ourselves – from reason = I can act not out of hypothetical imperative but out of categorical imperative Categorical vs Hypothetical Imperatives o Hypothetical Instrumental reason – If you want X, then do Y (ex. if you want a good businesses reputation then treat your customers well) Always conditional o Categorical Unconditional  applies regardless of the circumstances Not concerned with the matter of the action and its presumed results, but with its form, and with the principle from which it follows Imperative of morality Standpoint: Intelligible vs Sensible Claims o moral law & Starry night Sensible: As a natural being, I belong to the sensible world: my actions are determined by the laws of nature Intelligible: As a rational being, I inhabit an intelligible world which is independent of laws of nature, I am capable of autonomy, capable of acting according to a law I give myself we are more than an object  Criticism Grounded on highly idealised view of human nature and human reason do we all agree about what is right and what is wrong? Do we really find moral requirements as binding? Are we really as autonomous/rational? Bounded rationality: people do not have all information when making decisions Comparison to Utilitarianism and Libertarianism Utilitarianism opposes the view that actions can be inherently bad or inherently good; The ethical value is grounded purely on the consequences; o Decided on case to case basis o Do what provides the most good and the least harm to the greatest number of people Kant & libertarianism supports an anti-authoritarian position: there are basic human rights that no authority, no state, no institution should deny or stamp on Revolutionary root Kant: Do what respects human fundamental dignity and self-determination o Libertarianism: Do what respects human freedom and self-ownership Similarities: Refusal of dogmas o Grounded on rationalism  Every being should figure out what is the right thing to do with their own reason