Immanuel Kant

categorical imperative

HOW DO WE DETERMINE MORALITY?

morality is derived from duty

moral principles are intrinsically valid

moral principles must be obeyed in all

circumstances

all moral obligations must be tested

through the categorical imperative

HOW DO WE DETERMINE MORALITY?

moral law applies to any and all rational

agents

means of an action matter more than the ends

moral actions must have a moral intent

moral law is a principle of reason not of fact

WHAT ’S WRONG WITH IMMORALITY?

immorality=irrationality

WHAT IS THE CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE?

a three tiered “test” to determine whether

a maxim is moral

maxim: principle or an action

HOW DOES THE CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE WORK?

the three tiers act as three tests

they must be worked through in consecutive

order

if you “pass” test one you move on to test

two then test three

HOW DOES THE CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE WORK?

morality is determined by the successful

completion of all levels of the imperative

but you can’t take two or three without passing

test one

if you don’t pass any of the tests the maxim is

immoral

TIER ONE: UNIVERSAL LAW

“act only in accordance with that maxim

through which you can at the same time will

that it become a universal law.”

ex: lying about harboring jewish people in

your attic

TIER TWO: HUMANITY FORMULA

“we should never act in such a way that we

treat Humanity, whether in ourselves or in

others, as a means only but always as an end

in itself.”

ex: kidnapping to get ransom money

TIER THREE: KINGDOM OF ENDS

“act in accordance with the maxims of a member giving universal laws for a merely possible kingdom of ends"

• 1. it requires that we conform our actions to the maxims of a legislator of laws

• 2. that this lawgiver lays down universal laws, binding all rational wills including our own

• 3. that those laws are of ‘a merely possible kingdom’ each of whose members equally possesses this status as legislator of universal laws, and hence must be treated always as an end in itself.

TIER THREE: KINGDOM OF ENDS

simply put:• our fundamental moral obligation is to act only on principles which could earn acceptance by a community of fully rational agents each of whom have an equal share in legislating these principles for their community.

• liken unto the golden rule: do unto others as you would have done unto yourself

TIER THREE: KINGDOM OF ENDS

within the kingdom of ends there is a

realm of ends

• within the realm of ends the end of a maxim is eternal

CRITICISMS OF KANT

universal moral law is not binding

laws only applies to rational agents

people are inherently immoral, kant assumes that people

are inherently moral

kant also assumes that people automatically desire to be

moral

any questions?

Fin