Chapter 11 - Kant's Revolution

From Vaughn Textbook, Topics: The Small-Town Genius; The Knowledge Revolution; and the Moral Law

What is an analytic statement?

A logical truth whose denial results in a contraditction

What is a synthetic statement?

A statement that is not analytic

What is ethics/moral philosophy?

The study of morality using the methods of philosophy

What is morality?

Beliefs about right and wrong actions and good and bad persons or character

What is the moral theory?

A theory that explains why an action is right or wrong or why a person or a person’s character is good or bad

What is the consequentialist theory?

A moral theory in which the rightness of actions depends solely on their consequences or results

What is the deontological theory?

A moral theory in which the rightness of actions is determined not solely by their consequences but partly or entirely by their intrinsic nature

What is utilitarianism?

The view that right actions are those that result in the most beneficial balance of good over bad consequences for everyone involved

What is the categorical imperative?

Kant’s fundamental moral principle, which he formulates as:

• I am never to act otherwise than so that I could also will that my maxim should become a universal law

• So act as to treat humanity, whether in thine own person, or in that of any other, in every case as an end withal, never as a means only

Who was Immanuel Kant and why was he important?

He was a modest man of conventional living who launched a revolution in epistemology and charted a major new route in ethics

To whose theories was Kant responding?

Those of consequentialist moral theorists and anyone who thinks of morality needing to be based on feelings/desires rather than reason

What did Kant argue that reversed the traditional theory?

He argued that objects conform to the mind, rather than the mind conforming to objects

How did Kant argue about sense experiences and reality?

He argued that sense experiences can match reality because the mind stamps itself on sense experiences → the mind’s concepts force an order onto experience

What is moral objectivism?

The view that at least some moral norms or principles are objectively valid or true for everyone

What is moral relativism?

The view that moral standards are not objective but are relative to what individuals or cultures believe

What does Kant’s theory of ethics say?

Right actions are those that are consistent with universal moral rules derived from reason, and the actions have moral worth only if we do them out of a sense of duty

For Kant, is morality relative?

No, it is absolute and universal

How did Kant’s daily life contrast his achievements?

He was strictly regimented in daily life (people setting watches to his walks) but was highly skills in both science and philosophy

How do Kant’s views differ from those of Hume?

Hume was an empiricist that was sceptical, Kant believed that there were necessarily true and universal knowledges that were independent of sense experience

How is Kant both an empiricist and a rationalist?

He holds that all knowledge has its origins in experience, but also says reason is necessary for true knowledge → neither alone are enough to acquire knowledge of the world

How does Kant say that synthetic a priori knowledge is possible?

He says that the mind is an active shaper of experience into objects that we can know a priori

How does Kant think we process the world?

We process information through the mind’s conceptual processor, which shows us the world through phenomena, i.e. our conceptualised sense data → largely compliant with psychology today

What does Kant call the world beyond our sense data?

Noumena, a reality forever beyond us

What is the difference between morality and ethics?

Morality has to do with our moral judgements, principles, values, etc. while ethics is the philosophical examination of these

What does it mean that morality is a normative enterprise?

It provides us with the norms, or standards for judging actions and people and prescribes how things should be, rather than just describing how they are

What makes morality stand out among normative spheres?

• Overriding-ness → moral norms are more important than, say, legal norms

• Impartiality → they apply to everyone equally

• Reason based → moral judgements are based on moral reasoning

What is the difference between moral objectivism and moral absolutism?

• Moral objectivism → At least some moral norms are objectively valid or true for everyone

• Moral absolutism → Objective moral principles allow no exceptions or must be applied the same way in all cases and cultures

What is the argument in favour of moral relativism?

Morality is not an objective fact; it’s a human invention, dependent entirely on what people believe

What are the criticisms of moral relativism?

Subjective moral relativism implies that every person is morally infallible, implies that we cannot legitimately criticise others for immorality, and rules out the possibility of moral progress

What is the principle difference between Kantians and utilitarians?

Kantians take respecting rights to be central to the moral life, utilitarians reject the concept of rights, or they define rights in terms of utility

What, in colloquial terms, is the categorial imperative?

The idea that moral law cannot be something contingent, changeable, or relative and that moral law is absolute, unchangeable, and universal → structure built on eternal reason