The goal of deontology is to find a categorical, unconditional imperative that will enable the creation of universal laws of nature, legislated by rational and free beings. The categorical imperative is formal, while the substance is decided by the person. The idea is that by a process of reasoning, one can check his intuitions and desires and see if they can become a general rule for moral behavior. Kant bases his theory on three main concepts: the good will, the duty and the law. The moral worth of an action is measured in its intention.
KANT AND FREE WILL Introduction At first place in the chapter 1 of GMM, Kant tries to demonstrate that there is a moral law which is driven from the sense of moral obligations. He identifies how the moral law possibly driven from the sense of moral obligations that motive us to act morally. Kant simply implies that a universal moral law that can be only exist in kind of formula determining if an action is moral or not. He named the formula Categorical Imperative which can be basically defined as “Always act so that you can will the rule of your action to be a universal law.” It is ‘categorical’ because it is not ‘hypothetical’ or ‘contingent’ on anything, but is always and everywhere ‘universal’. Because it is called an ‘imperative’
In the Groundwork, the notion of the good does not rely on feeling or sensation; rather than it derives from the rational directly. Kant points out that every motive has an intended effect on the world. When desire drives us, we first examine the possibilities that the world leaves open to us, selecting some effect at which we wish to aim. But, if we act in accord with practical moral law, we encounter a significant difference since the only possible object of the practical law is the Good, since the Good is always an appropriate object for the practical law. Viewing the Good as rational consolidates
He defines the theory of justice as a work of political philosophy and ethics Rawls (1971). His main aim was to bring together two fundamental political philosophies egalitarianism and libertarianism. Rawls' theory attempts to resolve this division by meeting the libertarian demand, for the most part, to respect personal freedom, and meeting the egalitarian demand of equality regarding economic redistribution. Rawls argues that the concepts of freedom and equality are basically the same. For justice to be truly just, everyone must be afforded the same rights under the law.
Kant’s moral theory of deontology is the study of duty. Deontology focuses on the intentions of the actions and not on the consequences that may follow, the opposite of utilitarianism. According to the theory of deontology, we are obligated to follow the principles and rules regardless of the outcomes. My goal in this paper is to explain the theory of deontology, which has two types of imperatives: hypothetical and categorical that are used when deciding upon the act to be taken; also would like to identify objections against the theory of deontology. Hypothetical imperatives take the form of if you want X, you should do Y (Frederick 4).
The Emptiness Charge in Kant’s Moral Philosophy Introduction: The Emptiness Charge in Kant’s Moral Philosophy Chapter One: The Formalistic Expressions in Kant’s Writings 1.1. The Groundwork of Metaphysics of Morals- The Equivalence Thesis 1.2. The Critique of Practical Reason- The Universal Will Chapter Two: Kant’s Formalism and Its Emptiness Charge 2.1. Hegel’s Empty Formalism Objection 2.1.1. A Restatement of Categorical Imperative 2.1.2.
Also, a single person cannot make an expectation for themselves from committing a wrong action. Kant felt that if an individual makes an exception for oneself then its consider wrong and unfair. The propose of universal law is to bring good actions because Kant want good to be spread universally and everyone is treated equally. The second imperative is hypothetical, which mainly focuses on the idea of humanity. Kant mainly focuses on that we should treat individuals with humanity.
Before Kant, moral philosophy was dominated by Crusius’s sense of divine morality which stipulates that the will of a person has to be in accordance with the will of God. Wolff’s notion of moral perfection adds that we should strive to procedurally achieve our sense of moral obligation to the degree that the ends or effects of a particular action are based on our ability to calculate perfection. Kant concludes that Wolff’s postulates are virtually impossible in attempting perfection in 1764 in his Prize Essay ,‘‘now I can with little effort show how I became convinced, after much thought, that the rule ‘do the most perfect action which for you is possible’. ’’ (Prize Essay.2:229) Crusius and Wolff’s arguments essentially appeal to the un-provable
In his Letter Concerning Toleration, John Locke states that, above all things, he finds it “necessary to distinguish exactly the business of civil government from that of religion and to settle the just bounds that lie between the one and the other.”1 This argument can be defied by analyzing the definitions of moral law, real justice, and how they work together. It is impossible to execute justice in civil affairs without reference to moral law. Civil affairs and morality must coincide to execute justice in a state. Moral law is “a rule or group of rules conceived as universal and unchanging and as having the sanction of God 's will, of conscience, of man 's moral nature, or of natural justice as revealed to human reason.”2 According to
Kant analogizes the role of the moral philosopher to reveal the ambiguous perception of what it is moral to be clearer and shimmers dazzlingly, supplementary; he emphasised that we do not need a philosopher to show us which action is right, we already know that based on what he calls it the common human reason. This paper will tackle a theoretical framework based on the Kantian Deontology theory and Kant’s Categorical Imperatives formulations as a representative for the Deontology theory. Thus, aiming to rationalise a critique for the decision that were taken in a personal ethical dilemma, spotting the light on alternative choices and finally reaching a conclusion. THEORY Kantian Deontology theory and Kant’s Categorical Imperatives formulations will be adopted as the theoretical framework; in Thorpe (2007), he demonstrates Kant’s perspective for the moral behaviour, Kant considers moral as a priori, further he