Transcript act - PushMe Press

Key Words to be happy with
 deontological – actions, not consequences
 summum bonum – the supreme good
 prescriptive – ‘I ought’ means ‘I can’
 ‘a priori’ - knowledge without needing experience
 ‘a posteriori’ – knowledge through experience
 ‘analytic’ – necessarily true statements
 ‘synthetic’ – statements that could be true or false
 categorical imperative
 hypothetical imperative
 universalisability
Key assumption
 Autonomy (self rule)
 Humans have freedom plus reason
 So we can choose an action which is good, and can give
the word “good” a clear meaning which is true
everywhere and for everyone
Kant is Deontological
 The act and intention is all important
 Based on duty – we shouldn’t act out of compassion
 Morality is prescriptive – ‘Ought’ implies ‘can’
An ultimate aim
 Summum bonum – the supreme good
 Kant argues that we cannot achieve this in our lifetime
– leads to the assumption that there is an afterlife and
God.
An objective Moral Law known
through reason
 Moral statements are ‘a priori synthetic’
 A priori - knowable prior / without experience
(through reason)
 Synthetic – may be right or wrong
Good will = doing one’s duty
 We should act out of duty, not because of the
consequences
 Opposes utilitarian principles – an act is morally good,
even if it results in suffering
 We should act out of duty and reason – an identical act
performed out of love is good but not moral
 Reason, rationality – guiding our emotions
The Categorical Imperative
 Moral statements are ‘categorical’ – they prescribe
necessary behaviour irrespective of the consequence
1. universalisability – can it be done at all times and by
all people? (Can your action be willed as a universal
law)
2. treat humans as ends and not just as means
3. act as if you live in a kingdom of ends ie you are an
autonomous (free) law-maker.
The importance of freedom
 As humans we generally have free will
 Morality assumes we are able to follow the categorical
imperative – actions done when our freedom is
constrained are not ones of morality (we can’t be
blamed)
Evaluating Kant
 morality is more than personal preferences
 justice is impartial
 humans have intrinsic worth
But...
 very restrictive and unwieldy in a modern world
 universalisability is meaningless – are any two
dilemmas identical?
 challenges common idea that compassion (feelings)
and consequence are important considerations