* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Download Lecture 25: Kantian moral theory
Humanitarianism wikipedia , lookup
Antinomianism wikipedia , lookup
Utilitarianism wikipedia , lookup
Internalism and externalism wikipedia , lookup
Individualism wikipedia , lookup
Divine command theory wikipedia , lookup
Ethics in religion wikipedia , lookup
Bernard Williams wikipedia , lookup
Alasdair MacIntyre wikipedia , lookup
Ethics of artificial intelligence wikipedia , lookup
School of Salamanca wikipedia , lookup
Immanuel Kant wikipedia , lookup
Lawrence Kohlberg wikipedia , lookup
Morality and religion wikipedia , lookup
Moral disengagement wikipedia , lookup
Moral development wikipedia , lookup
Consequentialism wikipedia , lookup
Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development wikipedia , lookup
Morality throughout the Life Span wikipedia , lookup
Ethical intuitionism wikipedia , lookup
Moral relativism wikipedia , lookup
Secular morality wikipedia , lookup
Thomas Hill Green wikipedia , lookup
LECTURE 25: KANTIAN MORAL THEORY Ethics Teleological The moral value of an action is entirely based on its results or consequences Deontological Emphasises duty or the inherent moral value of an action, not the consequences. All ethical theories fall under one or both of these categories TWO TYPES OF ETHICAL THEORY Kant maintains the following: o The morality of an action is not conditional on its consequences o Morality is a matter of ought or obligation o How you do something is more important than what you do o What matters is the motivation of the agent; whether they have a ‘Good will’ o A ‘Good will’ is the intention to act in accordance with the moral law o Obeying the moral law requires doing what is right because it is right KANT Kant outlines two types of imperatives (oughts) Hypothetical Imperative Categorical Imperative A Conditional Ought A Moral Ought If You Don’t Want X (Hypothesis) Categorical Must be Universal and Exceptionless Then You Ought to Y (Condition) KANT Cannot be conditional on individual desires Categorical Imperatives In its most general form the categorical imperative states: Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law The categorical imperative is a test for rightness or wrongness of an action A categorical imperative is an absolute and universal moral ought We are obligated to obey the categorical imperative because of our nature as rational beings KANT Using the Categorical Imperative (p. 409) Stage 1: Can I will doing X universally, that is, everyone in similar circumstances doing X? No, it would result in a contradiction. = Doing X is wrong Yes = Doing X is morally permissible Stage 2: If “yes:” Can I will to omit X universally, that is, no one in similar circumstances doing X? No. = Doing X is a moral obligation KANT Yes = X is a right action but not an obligation Are the following moral or immoral according to the categorical imperative? Murder Lying Stealing Cheating in exams Invading foreign nations Slavery Oppressing women In all cases the moral value depends on: 1) Whether we could universalize the action without contradiction 2) Whether we can omit the action universally KANT Variations of the categorical imperative Version 1 Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law Version 2 (p.410) Act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means only KANT Are the following moral or immoral according to version 2 of the categorical imperative? Murder Lying Stealing Cheating in exams Invading foreign nations Slavery Oppressing women According to the 2nd version we must ask Does the action treat humanity as a means only rather than an end? KANT