2 - Kant's Categorical Imperative

what is a hypothetical imperative

what you ought to do based off of the assumption of some goal or desire

‘eat your five a day’ is a …..

hypothetical imperative

if you want to will an end you must …

will the means

if moral duties aren’t hypothetical, what are they?

categorical

if an imperative is categorical, what does that mean

we can’t opt out of them; they are duties regardless of what we want

are moral duties the means to some further end?

no

what makes an action good?

it is willed by the good will

what are all moral duties derived from

THE categorical imperative

what’s the first test for a categorical imperative

a contradiction in conception

if the maxim ‘steal when you want something you can’t afford’ was universalized, what would the problem be

idea of ownership would end, if there’s no ownership then you can’t steal

what’s the issue for the contradiction in conception e.g. stealing

trying to universalise the maxim would result in a logical self-contradiction

what is a contradiction in will

we can logically conceive a universalizable maxim, but we cannot rationally will it

what does ‘will’ refer to here

choosing or deciding

* a will by definition, wills its ends
* to truly will ones ends, one must will the necessary means
* therefore we cannot rationally will a situation where it would be impossible for us to achieve our ends → *this contradicts the very act of willing*
* it is possible that in some situations the only available means to our ends will involve the help of others
* we therefore cannot will that this help is denied to us
* thus we cannot rationally will a situation in which ‘no one ever helps anyone else’ → we fail at creating this categorical imperative

a contradiction in will for the maxim ‘do not help others in need’

why is ‘don’t help others in need’ a contradiction in will

it takes away the means to an ends, taking away the means stops you from willing the ends because to will the ends you must will the means

it is not just morally wrong to disobey the categorical imperative, it is ……

irrational

what determines our duties and the means to discover them?

reason

morality and rationality are …..

categorical

what is the second formulation of the categorical imperative

the formula of humanity

what is the formula of humanity:

act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the persons of others, not only as a means but simultaneously as an end

what does kant call our intrinsic worth

dignity

to treat someone only as a means and not simultaneously as an end undermines their power of ………..

making a rational choice

treating someone as an end as well as means also means leaving them free to ……….

pursue the end they choose to adopt

perfect duties come from issues concerning

contradictions in conception

imperfect duties come from issues concerning

contradictions in will