Because the imperative is something that stems from the rational will, adherence to it is really only adherence to the law that the will itself created. The will, that is, is acting as the will tells itself it has to. Due to the circular nature of the will's imperative to behave a certain way, obedience to the imperative is actually obedience to the self, and obeying moral law requires nothing more or less than complete self-direction. The premise that moral law -- the categorical imperative -- is born out of the rational will is central to Kant's theory of ethics: "each individual agent regards itself as determining, by its decision to act in a certain way, that everyone (including itself) will always act according to the same general rule in the future" (Kemerling 2002). This is why the imerative is categorical, or universal, and at the same time an entirely anonymous creation of each independent rational will. Though Kant's ability to employ logical and rhetorical devices is far beyond my own, I do not fully trust the conclusions he has come to. more precisely, I do not trust his assertion that the rational will is responsible for creating the categorical imperative, or that morality can be a truly autonomous act. Rationality is shaped by experience; it is impossible to know ro even conceive of anything in a vacuum. Determining how one should act is precisely a determination about external events, and rational decisions must be made with information that might be internalized, but was at some point external....
Imagine a pure innocent (with the sudden gift of language) presented with a moral question: is cheating wrong? The innocent needs to know what cheating is, what money is, how poker is played, the importance of money, etc. We can agree that cheating is wrong because we know the effects of being cheated and have a sense of private property, but these were not inborn, autonomous creations of our rationality but rather are experiential.
Introduction Kantian ethics, developed by Immanuel Kant, is a philosophical theory that emphasizes the importance of moral principles and individual autonomy. The Emperor Club, a 2002 film directed by Michael Hoffman, provides a thought-provoking exploration of Kantian ethics through its portrayal of a dedicated teacher and his students at an elite preparatory school. The film follows the story of William Hundert, a passionate Classics teacher at St. Benedict's School for Boys, who
Kantian Ethical Analysis Introduction to Kantian Ethics. Kantian ethics may depart from what Kant wrote and thought. Kantian ethics can criticize and modify the theory that Kant put forward as well as sympathetically interpret or defend it. Kant's ethics are contained in Kant's own writings: the Groundwork, the Critique of Practical Reason, the Metaphysics of Morals, as well as others. Kantian ethics are the theory that Kant himself put forward, the fundamental
Powell points to the fact that "in Georgia, for example, the time between the date of the murder and the murderer's execution (if it occurs) averages close to I0 years 25 Although the average lapsed time in Georgia may be the highest, the same situation generally prevails in a number of other states. No one would suggest that this is satisfactory." (Powell, 1038) Indeed, according to Calvert (1993) it demonstrates
Kant would certainly agree with Cohen, but there are many who criticize that view as outdated and inhumane. Kant's views do not acknowledge that animals could have feelings. Singer continues, "[W]e know that these animals have nervous systems very like ours, which respond physiologically like ours do when the animal is in circumstances in which we would feel pain: an initial rise of blood pressure, dilated pupils, perspiration, an increased
Virtue Ethics This ethical philosophy draws back from the thought and work of the ancient and great Greek philosopher Aristotle (Brown, 2001; SPI, n.d.; Fahey, 2010). The philosophy centers on persons who are moral agents themselves, rather than from their actions or their consequences. A person lives an ethical or the good life if he possesses a right character, also know as virtues. As such he possesses a moral character, according
Ethical Philosophies Ethics Utilitarianism, Kant's categorical imperative, virtue ethics, and Confucianism One of the most intuitive ethical philosophies is that of utilitarianism, an ethical ideal that suggests that ethical decisions should be made based upon what decisions will achieve the greatest good for the greatest number of people. When we weigh decisions based upon their costs and benefits, we are taking a kind of utilitarian approach to decision-making (Ethics 5: Utilitarianism, 2008).
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