Kantian ethics

Phenomenal world

World as we experience it

Noumenal world

World as it is in itself

Rationalism

Knowledge of moral principles implanted into us by God or other means discoverable by reason

Empiricism

Morality is a human creation and is fundamentally based on desire, allowing us to live harmoniously and is discoverable through experience

Deontology

Actions are right or wrong in themselves, not depending on their consequences

Duties

Obligations we have towards someone or something

General duty

Duty towards anyone

Specific duty

Duty du to a particular relationship

Acting out of duty

Doing the right action with a good will because it is your duty

Acting in accordance with duty

Doing the right action for some other reason

Issue 1 with Kantian duties

Kant’s demands for absolute and universal duties can go against our natural intuitions, common sense morality and moral psychology

Issue 2 with Kantian duties

Having absolute duties which apply in all circumstances can lead to conflicting duties

Imperative

A command or order

Hypothetical imperative

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. As rational agents we can workout the categorical imperative by asking whether the maxim that lies behind our action is universalisable.

1st categorical formulation

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

Simple 1st categorical formulation

Only ac if it makes sense for you to will everyone to act this way

2nd categorical formulation

“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”

Simple 2nd categorical formulation

Respect others’ own ends and autonomy

Maxim

Underlying principle of an action, there is a rule

Contradiction in conception

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

Contradiction in will

Willing a certain maxim would be logically possible but does not make sense for a rational being to will this maxim

Perfect duties

Duty we must always do

Imperfect duty

Duty which one must not ignore but has multiple means of fulfilment

Issue 1 with kantian ethics

Clashing/competing duties

Issue 2 with kantian ethics

Not all universalisable maxims are moral

Issue 3 with kantian ethics

Ignores all other motivations

Issue 4 with kantian ethics

Ignores consequences

Issue 5 with kantian ethics

Morality as a system of hypothetical imperatives