Transcript Kant and the Role of Reason

Kant
and the Role of Reason
Two things fill me with constantly increasing admiration
and awe, the longer and more earnestly I reflect on
them: the starry heavens without and the moral law
within.
—Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
The Critique of Practical Reason
The Big Picture
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Kant's ethics is a doctrine of the
human ability to live according to
moral thought.
His aim: to forge a path in
philosophy between the two popular
trends of purely deductive
reasoning and purely experiential
explanations of knowledge.
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Purely deductive reasoning is driven by
rules of logic and often starts from a
premise that cannot be proven.
Practicality is not relevant.
Radical empiricism holds that only
experience can be our teacher, and so
looks for what ‘really’ happens and how
people experience things. Theory is not
relevant unless it is firmly based upon
experience.
Kant argued that both empirical
reality and reason were essential to
knowledge:
“All our knowledge begins with the
senses, proceeds then to the
understanding, and ends with
reason. There is nothing higher than
reason.”
Morality, for Kant, derives from
moral reflection, using reason to
interpret and analyze experience
and to arrive at conclusions –
ultimately principles – that would
serve as a guide for right behavior.
Reason
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No other living creature has it (as far as
we know).
It is the attribute that makes us able to
determine how we ought to act – and
this, after all, is what morality is about.
“We are able to step beyond the confines
of our inclinations, needs, and selfinterests that place us within the world of
experience, and to act in a situation in a
way we determine that we ought to act.
In recognizing a duty from which we
decide we should act, we recognize the
moral will within us.”
Imperatives
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Our reason tells us that we should
do certain things. However, there
are different justifications for acts,
and only one is moral.
Hypothetical Imperative: If you
want X, then you should do Y.
Categorical Imperative: You should
do Z because reason tells you it is
your duty and is right.
Categorical Imperatives
Categorical imperatives are governed
by reason and take the form of
absolute principles derived at and
justified through logic:
 You ought to be honest, because reason
tells you that honesty is the fundamental
virtue on which all others stand.
 You ought to care for your aging parents,
because it is your duty as their child.
 You ought not to cheat on exams,
because if everyone did, there would be
no point in testing.
Categorical Imperative,
Formulation 1
1. Only act if the principle of
your action applied universally
is not self-defeating.
Implications:
--universality
--reversibility
Categorical Imperative,
Formulation 2
So act as to use humanity, both in
your own person and in the person
of every other, always at the same
time as an end, never merely as a
means.
Or… Always act with impartial
recognition of every person's right,
including yourself, to be treated
with respect.
2.
--negative imperative
--positive imperative
Categorical Imperative,
Formulation 3
3.
Act as if you were a member of
a moral community governed
by moral principles that can be
universally applied without
becoming self-defeating, and
that treat every person with
respect.
--responding to the “ideal”
Apply the Categorical Imperative
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Case 1
Case 2
Case 3
The Firm as a Moral Community
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Erik is finishing up his stockroom
inventory at the electronics store, when
the manager comes in and says, “You can
get those gaming systems down and
ready for a clearance sale. The new
model’s coming out in two weeks, so we
need to get rid of these.” Erik, who also
handles floor sales, wonders what his
regular customers will think if they buy a
system on sale and suddenly the new
model comes out?
Some questions….
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Can the reason for such behavior be
applied universally without the act
then becoming self-defeating?
How would Erik feel if he were the
customer?
Is the manager’s command
respectful of customers? Of Erik?
Is the manager “acting as if” he
lived in a world governed by moral
rules?
Summary: Kant’s Categorical Imperative
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First formulation: Only act if the principle of
your action applied universally is not selfdefeating.
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Second formulation: Always act with impartial
recognition of every person's right, including
yourself, to be treated with respect.
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Universality
Reversibility
Respect for everyone
Third formulation: Act as if you were a member
of a moral community governed by moral
principles that can be universally applied without
becoming self-defeating, and that treat every
person with respect.
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Act “as if”