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Kant A01 - Coggle Diagram
Kant A01
Morality :
Therefore, morality is within us "the morality is within me", meaning we have an innate understanding and are born with moral obligations
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Duty
Duty is always a categorical imperative. You do it because it is the right thing to do not to avoid consequence).
Duties must be done out of good will (not self-interest
e.g . You see a poor person and can’t stand seeing poverty. So, you give the poor person money.
as compared to
You see a poor person – it really upsets you to see him suffering, so you give him money, so you feel better.
Duties command our behaviour – they are imperatives – morality commands categorically, not hypothetically.
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The 3 Postulates
A postulate is an assumption. Kant has 3 postulates of practical reason. Freedom, Immortality (summon bonum) and God
1) Freedom - We must be free to make moral decisions (because we are always making decisions!!!)
“The moral law within me” – we all have a sense of morality, and we all know we have to make decisions
2 ) Immortality (the summon bonum) - life after death. The Summon Bonum is Kant's idea of Heavan. Summon Bonum is a part of Heavan, as something that can only be achieved in the next life.
It is a place where happiness and virtue are combined. The summum bonum is a reward for doing our duty – it is NOT why we do our duty (do our duty out of good will).
3) God -If there is life after death (Heaven), then God must exist. God acts as a judge; he decides whether or not we get our reward – the summum bonum.
Kant states that we know God exists because we use our reason, we do not use divine revelation (e.g., miracles, the Bible).
Goodwill
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Duties must be done out of good will (not self-interest) – you do it because it is right, not because it benefits you
Example of the Nazi solider in WW2 not acting from his innate duty to act in goodwill - in charge of trains that transported Jewish people to concentration camps, although not directly responsible in the killing he knew he was sending these people to their deaths and did it regardless, not show remorse for his actions.
Background
Deontological- focus on actions
Absolute- fixed rules that never change. What is right and wrong never changes
Kant was one of the greatest philsophers of all time, and wrote his theory during the enlightenment (a revolution of human thought that emphasised reason and rational thinking which challenged religion and traditional thinking)
Reason
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The only way to discover morality is through REASON – nothing else (e.g. feelings, consequences).
Teleological theories are wrong as if you focus on the consequence, you are acting out of self-interest.
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