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KANT (moral law (duty & goodwill= moral law, "the moral law…
KANT
moral law
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Kant believes errors occur in moral thinking when following heteronomous approaches, eg laws set down by churches, and we should instead use our own that is knowable by reason
three postulates
IMMORTALITY-- perfect virtue ought to be rewarded with perfect happiness. We cannot achieve summum bonom in this life alone; therefore immortality must logically exist
GOD-- if summum bonum requires the afterlife then god must logically exist, as there must be someone ensure/mediate this.
FREEDOM (AUOTONOMY)--must postulate that we are free/have freedom. Rational creatures are free, but only gain this through adopting a formal law. Moral choices can only happen if we are free, we must be free to do our duty.
hypothetical imperitive
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If I want X I must do Y"-- Kant didn't agree with this imperitive (not an imperitive for morality) not an absolute rule so Kant created an alternative
CATERGORICAL IMPERITIVE
an act that is good in itself despite the consequences, doesn't differ between people, not dependant on what you may wish, "you should" "you must" - absolute.
three formulations -- 1. formula for the law of nature= UNIVERSALIZABILITY
- formula for the end in itself= MEANS TO AN END
- formula for kingdom of ends
- "act only according to the maxim" the action is right if it can be applied universally and still has a good outcome. kants examples-- lying promise, suicide, neglecting one's talents, refraining from helping others.
- every individual should act as if every other is individual is an "end" , your rules should apply for everyone, and theirs for you.
- every rational being exists as an end in themselves, you shouldn't use people as a means to your end, don't use people for personal gain.
duty, purpose of duty
what you ought to do, we all have a moral obligation to perform certain acts, we all have freewill to perform our duty and reason to work them out.
should not involve-emotions, personal gain, authority command
goodwill
an act is only good if it is based on sense of goodwill, moral actions are ones performed with goodwill, with good intentions
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evaluation points
WEAKNESSES
what happens if duty leads to a bad action, eg. Hitler
Axe Murderer- Kant would argue you would have to tell the murderer the whereabouts of the victim, because it goes against your duty to lie, even though the outcome is your friend dies, its your duty to tell the truth so you are morally blameless
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ethics based on culture- culture relativism, eg. China; abortion part of their law which cannot be universalized
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