Deontology Midterm Lecture 3 PDF

DEONTOLOGY  DEONTOLOGY comes from the Greek word “deon”, The moral theory that evaluates actions that are done because of duty is called deontology. Hence, deontology refers to the study of obligation. on other occasions he felt sympathy for the Jews he was sending to the gas chambers, b...

DEONTOLOGY  DEONTOLOGY comes from the Greek word “deon”, The moral theory that evaluates actions that are done because of duty is called deontology. Hence, deontology refers to the study of obligation. on other occasions he felt sympathy for the Jews he was sending to the gas chambers, but because he believed one should do one’s duty unaffected by sympathy, he steadfastly stuck to his duty, instead of being tempted to bend the rules and help the Jews. Which is the correct concept of duty? The main proponent of deontology is Immanuel Kant (1724-1804).  He intends to develop what he calls the “supreme principle of morality.” It is supposedly supreme because by basing it on the faculty of reason, it becomes binding for all creatures that have that faculty. human beings, have the faculty called rational will, which is the capacity to act according to principles that we determine for ourselves. It consists of the mental faculty to construct ideas and thoughts that are beyond our immediate surroundings. This is the capacity for mental abstraction, which arises from the operations of the faculty of reason. Thus, we have the ability to stop and think about what we are doing. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ANIMALS AND HUMANS?  animals are sentient organisms. Sentience, meaning an organism has the ability to perceive and navigate its external environment. we are also sentient. Thus, both animals and persons interact in and with the world, reacting to external stimuli and internal impulses to survive and thrive. On the other hand, people are also rational.  DO ANIMALS ACT? DO ANIMALS PERFORM ACTIONS? As far as we know, animals only act according to impulses, based on their natural instincts. Thus, animals “act” with immediacy with nothing that intervenes between the impulse and the action. They do not and cannot deliberate on their actions. In fact, we may say that animals do not “act”. They only “react” to their external surroundings and internal impulses. A car driver killing a cyclist. Is this an action or a reaction?  According to Kant, Man has sensible impulses, and it is twofold sensible impulses are usually bodily and emotional. Bodily instincts and desires, such as the urge to eat, drink, sleep, or have sexual intercourse, comprise the set of the human compulsions for survival and the propagation of the species.  Emotions and sentiments also make up what Kant considers sensible impulses. Practical examples are the jealousy from seeing your girlfriend or boyfriend make eyes at someone, and the rage from being pushed foully by your opponent in a basketball game. A person taking the lives of two innocent individuals that went viral  In contrast, we humans have reason, which intervenes between impulse and act. We have the ability to stop and think about what we are doing to evaluate our actions according to principles. It implies that we are indeed basically animals, but we cannot be reduced to mere animality. When we claim, " The human person is not only an animal, but is also rational," we admit to two possible causes of our actions: sensible impulses and the faculty of reason. Human freedom resides in that distinction.  Kant claims that the property of the rational will is autonomy which is the opposite of heteronomy. These three Greek word are instructive: autos, heteros, and nomos, which mean “self,” “other,” and “law,” respectively. Hence, when we combine autos and nomos, we get autonomy; heteros and nomos to heteronomy. Crudely stated, autonomy means self-law and heteronomy means other law. Two types of IMPERATIVES for Kant 0. HYPOTHETICAL 1. CATEGORICAL 2. PRACTICAL  Categorical Imperative “Act only according to such a maxim, by which you can at once will that it becomes a universal law.” Kant states that we must formulate an action as a maxim, which he defines as a “subjective principle of action”. In this context, a maxim consist of a “rule” that we live by in our day-to-day lives, but it does not have the status of a law or a moral command that binds us to act in a certain way. Rather, maxims depict the patterns of our behavior. Thus, maxims are akin to the “standard operating procedures” (SOPs) in our lives. We act according to a variety of maxims, even if we are not aware of them. Actually, we become aware of our maxims when we talk about ourselves, when we reveal our habits and the reasons behind them. Example of a maxim: “I will cheat on my ethics exam so that I may able to graduate this year” It means that the maxim must be “universalizable”, which is what it means to” will that it become a universal law.” This means nothing other than imagining a world in which maxim, or personal rule, that I live be were adopted be everyone as their own maxim. What does it mean to universalize the maxim about: “Cheating on my ethics exam so that I may able to graduate this year” If we will universalize the maxim on cheating, It will lead only to SELF-CONTRADICTION and LOGICAL IMPOSSIBILITY If licensed engineers, cheated only on their board exam, it would lead to destruction in the society What does it mean to universalize the maxim about borrowing money without intending to return it? It will lead to collapse of the banks, then on the economic destruction in the society Now, imagine applying this procedure to other scenarios in which a person encounters moral problems, such as lying, cheating in an exam, murder, and adultery, among others. You may also test positive actions, such as paying for something that you are buying, returning something you borrowed, or submitting a school project on time. Practical Imperative MAN IS NOT A MEANS TO AN END Child Labor is against the practical imperative of Kant But rather, MAN IS AN END TO HIMSELF  Deontology is based on the “light” of one’s own reason when maturity and rational capacity take hold of a person’s decision- making. Reason is depicted as having its own light in contrast to our long experience of “paternalism” in human history, in which we find dictatorship and authority figure that claim to be benevolent, but have proven to be oppressive and exploitative of those who do not have political power. With deontology, particularly the method of universalizability, we can validate and adopt those rules and laws that are right and reject those that are irrational, thus impermissible because they are self-contradictory. This is then the practical value of deontology in our moral reflection: we are encouraged to have courage to think on our own, to use our rational will against external authorities as well as internal base impulses that tend to undetermined our autonomy and self- determination.