Kantian Ethics

Key terms

Good will

The intention to do the right action for its own sake without any other motivation. It is the only thing that is morally good without qualification.

Acting out of duty

Doing the right action with a good will; for the sole reason that it is your duty.

Acting in accordance with duty

Doing the right action but not because it is your duty.

Hypothetical imperative

Commands action as a means to an end. A statement about what you ought to do on the condition of some desire or goal. 

Categorical imperative

Absolute commands we are obliged to follow in all circumstances are categorical and only these imperatives are moral.

How we can work out the categorical imperative

As rational agents we can work out the categorical imperative by asking whether the maxim that lies behind our action is universalisable and treats people as ends in themselves.

Contradiction in conception

A maxim is wrong if willing everyone to act on it would be somehow self-contradictory.

Contradiction in will

This is where willing a certain maxim would be contradictory because it leads to something it would be irrational to want.

A perfect duty

A duty which one must always do.

An imperfect duty

A duty which one must not ignore but has multiple means of fulfilment. Kant specifies two imperfect duties: the duty of self-improvement and the duty to aid others.

First formulation of the categorical imperative

"I ought never to act except in such a way that I could also will that my maxim should become a universal law"

Second formulation of categorical imperative

"Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or the person of another, always as an end and never simply as a means"

Maxim

A personal principle that guides our decisions.

Deontology

Deontologists believe that morality is a matter of duty. We have moral duties/obligations to do things which it is right to do and moral duties not to do things which it is wrong to do. Whether something is right or wrong doesn't depend on its consequences.

Clashing or competing duties

Situations where two duties conflict, such as the duty not to lie and the duty to protect others when a murderer asks where someone is.

Universalisability criticism

Some maxims may be universalisable but still morally questionable, so universalisability alone may not determine morality.

Consequences criticism

The teleological criticism that the consequences of actions determine their moral value, which Kant ignores.

Motives criticism

The criticism that Kant ignores the moral value of motives such as love, friendship and kindness.

Philippa Foot criticism

Foot argues that morality is better understood as hypothetical imperatives based on our goals and desires rather than categorical imperatives.

Amoralists

People who do not care about morality or have no morals.