• IMMANUEL KANT’S PRINCIPLE OF DUTY1. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), a German

philosopher was known for his writings on and about ethics, displaying a very strong commitment to:

• A. Freedom• B. Dignity• C. Human prestige/value• D. Moral obligation/duty2. He believed that ‘moral obligation/duty

does not come from God, or from the community, or human authority BUT from reasoning.

3. Kant’s moral views came to be known as Kant’s Ethics.

4. Kant opposes metaphysical claims on the existence of God for to him our thinking should and ought to be used and based on and from humans standpoint or viewpoint.

5. To Kant, human beings as moral agents will ONLY be meaningful if human beings have free will.

6. Kant’s Ethics answer to, ‘What Should or Ought I Do?’

7. Kant stresses that ‘to judge an action, whether the action is right/wrong, humans need to see whether or not the action is in line with the Universal Moral Maxim.

8. Kant also stresses to be moral agents, human beings must possess sense of fairness and intelligence besides free will and freedom base on the formula:

‘Freedom + Fairness + Intelligence + Choice = Moral Action’.

9. Human beings with freedom and fairness, can use their intelligence to make the choice of an action and the action taken must followed the Moral Maxim (Universal Moral Rule).

10.Kant’s General or Universal Rules or Maxims can be categorised into:-

a. The Concept of Goodwill- Goodwill is unconditional and unconditionally

good in the performance of an action.- Kant did not believe that ‘goodwill can be

established or seen by referring to the objective good of an action that comes from goodwill will be good, right and moral.

- To Kant, any action that comes from desire or personal interest, and without goodwill, will not bring any good.

- For example, if any individual donates blood purely because he/she/they wish to show that they are good-natured or good hearted, to Kant and his ethics, they are and their action of donating blood cannot be considered good/moral. If they donate blood out of free will, that is without any condition or motive, and the only motive is the desire to do something/action to fulfil a duty, and this goodwill comes from the heart, the action is morally good/correct/proper.

- Factors such as desire, intention, or motive are factors use in determining whether the action is good and correct must be taken into account.

b. The Principle of Categorical Imperative- To Kant, when a moral principle/moral law/rule

has been formulated/formed, it must be followed and used by everyone in total and no exception.

- Kant believed that any principle of moral must be accepted universally and by everybody, and is applicable to everybody. Kant called this idea of morality as the Categorical Imperative or the Moral Law.

- Categorical imperative means a ‘command that has no exceptions or conditions. To Kant, real truths must be free from any internal contraction or infraction.

- Kant’s ethics states ‘humans act only on the maxim through which humans can at the same time will that the maxim be a universal law.’

• Kant listed three (3) elements in categorical imperative:-

a. The moral principle to be practised must be generally accepted.

b. The action to be taken must respect people and not make use of people.

c. The party responsible may be willing to be treated in this way if they find themselves in an oppressed position.

11. This formula/the Formula of Universal Law is the strictest.

12. Kant’s another formula which has a big impact on culture is the formula of ‘the end in itself’. This formula must treat humanity as an end and not a means to an end or not to be exploited by anyone for self-interest.

13.Kant said,’Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, always at the same time as an end and never simply as a means.’

14. To Kant each individual is not only the legislator of law but also is bound by the law (Kingdom of Ends). Both Kant and Rousseau believe that humans to be autonomous, is not just to be free and independent of others or social conventions, it is to have self-control that takes into account things like moral status.

KANT’S ETHICS-CRITICISMSa. Formalism – Kant’s categorical imperative is

empty, trivial, or too formal.

b. Rigorism – Kantian’s rules are insensitive and rigid.

c. Abstraction – Kant’s principles are too abstract and thus not action-guiding. To Kant, moral life is a matter of finding ways of acting that meet all obligations and violate no moral prohibitions.

d. Conflicting ground of obligation-differentiating between obligations is not a part of the theory and there is no procedure for dealing with conflicts.

e. Place of Inclinations – this is a serious criticism on Kant’s moral psychology. Kant requires us to act out of a sense of DUTY and NOT our own inclination.

f. No account for wrong-doing- Kant only allow for free action and this action is fully autonomous and reflects only natural desires and inclinations.

Summary of Kantian Ethics.1. To act in the morally right way, people

must act according to duty (deon).2. Not the consequences of actions that

make them right or wrong but the motives of the person who carries out the action.

PRINCIPLE OF EXISTENTIALISMA. Maintains that good or bad values stem from free

choices of the individual.B. Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) believes that

‘existence precedes essence.’ ‘Essence’ means ‘what we have become’ (R.B. Ashmore 1987)

C. Existentialism is an exactive and strict doctrine and specially intended for experts and philosophers.

D. Two (2) streams of existentialists: a. Christian Existentialists (Karl Jasper, G. Marcell) b. Atheist Existentialists (martin Heidegyer, J.P.

Sartre)E. Both ‘a’ and ‘b’ believed that existence precedes

essence

• or that subjectivity must be the starting point.F. Man according to Sartre in the beginning was

not thought about in the mind of the creator for man does not have a creator.

G. Man existed before his function was determined and what man will become will depend on the choice he makes.

H. Human beings are entirely responsible for choosing what they want to become, and what they want to do.

G. Human beings posses human nature or according to Heidegyer, ‘Existence precedes essence means that, first of all, man exists, turns up, appears on the scene, and, only afterwards, defines himself.’

H. Sartre believes that since there is no God, anything is possible or permissible: there is no punishment from God, no religious values and no objective values prepared for men to follow. Values followed by human beings are subjective, individualistic, and subject to certain situations.

I. To the existentialists, human beings are nothing but what they make for themselves and also responsible for all men.

VALUES OF RELIGIONS & BELIEFA. Introduction1. There are 8 different religious belief in

Malaysia;namely, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Confucianism, Sikhism, Native Beliefs.

ISLAMa. Is the youngest and originated in Saudi

Arabia 1,400 years ago.b. According to Islamic value, the life of an

individual is a process which has unity (a continuum).

c. Islam places great importance in the physical, intellectual, social and moral development of an individual in relationship to Allah.

d. According to Islam, the human body is tangible, it can move and grow, but not the ‘roh’ which is abstract. ‘Roh’ that makes the decisions, evaluates, and directs human actions.

e. In Islam, an individual has the right to realise a balanced physical and spiritual degree attainment.

f. Three (3) factors that influenced human development:-

1. Natural factor determined by character 2. The environmental factor 3. Human ability that allows an individual to

make his own choice.

HUMANS FROM AN ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVEa. Man is created by the essence that controls the

world, that is Allah. Man is a physical and spiritual being.

b. Man is created to serve Allah and is equipped with a mind or intellect to help him to understand the truth and to behave in a proper way pleasing to Allah.

c. Man natural attributes do not prevent him from doing things that are evil.

ROLE OF MAN AS A CALIPHa. As a caliph man is nobler than other creatures

including the angels. Being representative of Allah, man is entrusted in upholding truth and peace. Being caliph, man is expected to develop values of truth, goodness, beauty, and justice in all his actions.

b. Islamic teaching encompasses aqidah (faith), ibadah (devotion) and akhlak (morals).

c. Faith in Islam is manifested through Islamic law and devotion or religious service. Devotion is any action which reflects the feeling of self-submission and obedience to and worship of Allah.

d. Devotion can also mean all activities of man in his daily life towards Allah, and devotion must be accompanied by noble virtues.

e. ‘Akhlak’ means all the actions which have become customary, and which need not require much thought in order to perform. ‘Akhlak’ is deed that has been done for a long time and accepted by the society as a part of daily life.

f. Islamic morality is founded on ‘aqidah’ (faith), and thus having a strong belief in Allah, ‘qadak and qadar’, in sin and merit (pahala), in rewards and punishment in the hereafter.

g. Virtuous behaviours that are recommended by the Quran are faithful, God-fearing, virtuous, sincere, patient, trustworthy, just, etc.

CHRISTIANITYa. Christianity places spiritual development in

the relationship with God is far more important than the physical and cognitive development or growth.

b. Christianity derives its ethics and moral teachings from the Bible which is divided into the Old and the New Testaments.

c. The Old Testament testifies on God’s creation of the world and everything in it including the creation of the first man and woman.

d. The Old Testament also contains commands on conducts of Christians in their daily life. (Refer to Page 66)

e. The Old Testament also pays great attention to humans’ morality as in the book of Proverbs.

f. Examples of Christianity ethical values; 1. Obey your parents 2. Avoid sin 3. Be loyal and faithful 4. Be rational

5. Avoid adultery 6. Don’t be lazy 7. Be honest and be generousg. The new Testament presents other ethical

values such as humility, friendliness, fairness, moderation and consideration.

BUDDHISMa. Buddhism was founded by Gautama

Siddartha (563 – 483 BC)b. Buddhism focuses on three important

aspects, viz. 1. Impermanence 2. Suffering

3. Egolessnessc. Buddhist ethics are based on the analysis and

thoughts of Buddha in the social dimension. Buddha sees ethics as a requirement of the individual in bringing about a way of life that is valuable and virtuous.

d. Buddha teaches that life is unsatisfactory and full of suffering or ‘dukka’. This suffering includes physical pain, psychological conflict, worry and the impermanence in the world. (Four Noble Truth)

e. Impermanence according to Buddha as something that is related to ‘egolessness’, and egolessness is related to individual or ‘I’.

f. To end suffering, Buddha’s proposes the Noble Eightfold Path and thus be able to enter the state of ultimate

‘nirvana’.g. Buddhism allows its followers to seek riches,

comfort and pleasure without being overwhelmed by greed beside practising noble deeds.

h. Buddha’s suggests the ‘Middle Path’ in the Four Noble Truths. The 1st noble truth is that ‘life is full of suffering,’ the 2nd is that the cause of suffering, the 3rd is the ending of suffering (the attainment of Nirvana) and the 4th is the way to end suffering (the Noble Eightfold Path – page 74)

i. Nirvana is a Buddhist concept, an ultimate ideal in the cycles of being born and being reborn again. At this stage an individual will not be born again and thus ending their association with the world.

j. Buddhist are also concerned with ‘karma’ and ‘rebirth’ and these notions influence their actions and behaviour. They believe that good deeds are reciprocated with goodness and bad deeds with what is bad.

k. Buddhism encourages people to lead clean lives, associating with those who have high morals and shunning those who are immoral.

HINDUISMa. Hinduism believes in ‘dharma’ – ‘the moral

and social order’, and ‘rita’ – the ‘total harmony of the cosmic or natural order.’

b.