ETHICS (Y13) - Bentham and Kant

What is the good will according to Kant?

• Knowing what it is to act morally

• desiring to do your duty

• You must have a good will to be deserving of happiness

• It is the only thing that is good without qualification

Which type of theory is Kant’s?

Non-naturalist, as morality comes from within us

What is duty?

• Something you’re obliged to do morally

• He argued we all have practical reason and know what it is to act morally

• This is to believe that there is something we must do regardless of the consequences on us

• Believed we should be able to explain what our duties are

What is Deontology?

A moral theory based on duty

What does Kant claim duty to be?

A conscious choice

How does one figure out their duty?

• Kant says you’re not acting morally if you do what you enjoy as the moral action must be based on pure practical reason

• If you’ve reasoned your action, it should be done without considering the consequences

• Enjoyment is not immoral but irrelevant to the morality of an action

What does Kant say about the Good Will that differs it from just being kind?

• Being kind can come naturally to people but the “good will” isn’t a natural gift

• It’s a chosen act

• The aim is to be worthy of being happy, not just to be happy

What are the teleological aspects of the good will?

• Kant doesn’t ignore consequences of actions

• They must be worked through before you can tell if the act conforms to the categorical imperative

Give examples of people who act from duty

1. A carer who dedicates 10 years of life to care for her sick parents

2. A soldier who risks his life for his country

Kant’s theory is…

• Deontological therefore it recognises the universality of morality

Give Kan't’s formula for a moral action

good will + duty = moral action

Summarise the Categorical Imperative

• Has the form “do A” or “do not do A”

• Categorical = explicit and direct

• Categorical imperatives are commands that can’t be disobeyed as their good is intrinsic and deontological

• eg: do not kill

• These can lead to universal principles of action that all can follow

How is the Categorical Imperative different to hypothetical imperatives

• those are “if A, then B”

• eg: If someone is terminally ill then it’s permissible to euthanise them

What are the 3 formulations of Categorical Imperative?

• Each links to the other

• It is an imperative so it MUST be obeyed

• It is simply an “ought” - an absolute command

• These provide the rational basis for us to understand the Categorical Imperative

What is the first formulation?

• Universalisability

• Says to act only according to principles that others can use

• Means if I say what I’m doing is right then I should be ready for others to work on the same principles

What are the 2 examples for Universalisability?

1. I’m forced to borrow money that I can’t pay back but to get it I must promise I will. If everyone did this, promises lose meaning so we can’t do this in the interest of society. This is a “perfect duty”, meaning there are no exceptions.

2. If we don’t offer aid, we accept that if we ever need help no one will help us. Offering aid is an “imperfect duty” as there are some exceptions eg: having no money to help

What is the second formulation?

• Treat everyone as ends in themselves

• Means to not use people to get what you want

• Must treat all as free moral agents

What are some examples for the 2nd formulation?

• Treating someone as an inanimate object

• Coercing someone to get what you want

• Deceiving someone to get what you want

• Kant says these are all DEHUMANISING

What is the 3rd formulation?

• The Kingdom of Ends

• Act as thought you make the rules for the kingdom of ends

• Logically follows the first two

• Says you should always act as if you’re responsible for making rules in a kingdom of free autonomous humans

What did Kant acknowledge challenges his Categorical Imperative?

• Radical evil

• Understood that human existence contains moral evil

• He explains this by saying radical evil happens when we put self-interest above moral laws

• Said we have a tendency towards evil when we put ourselves first

Define the Summum Bonum

• The highest/ supreme good

• It is the culmination of Kant’s ethics where virtue meets its appropriate reward of perfect happiness

Define a Postulate

• An assumption you must have accepted to make sense of a moral choice

• In Kant’s ethics,the 3 “postulates of practical reason” are God, Freedom and immortality

• These underpin Kant’s doctrine of the summum bonum

What does Kant think about happiness?

• One shouldn’t strive to be happy but to be worthy of it

• He has no respect for those that are happy without regard for the morality of how they got there

• So the highest good (summum bonum) is the joining of virtue and happiness

What does Kant say has to be the starting point for happiness?

• Virtue, as those who are virtuous possess the “good will” which is necessary for morality

• Happiness is an optional bonus but not guaranteed and shouldn’t be our aim

How does Kant describe the “highest good”?

• It is not external but an ideal we must believe in before we can act morally

• You must will the highest good and believe as an autonomous being that you will be worthy of happiness if you act morally

What does Kant say we must assume if we seek the summum bonum?

• Must assume it is achievable

• If the good will tells us we ought to do our moral duty it suggests we can do it

• “ought implies can”

• The 3 postulates of practical reason make sense of this - if you believe acting virtuously will achieve happiness then you accept God, immortality and freedom

Explain the first two postulates

God and immortality

• God doesn’t command moral laws, they come from reason and the good will

• If “ought implies can” then we assume that if we do our duty there WILL be a reward of happiness proportionate to obedience to moral law

• Reward for highest obedience = summum bonum

• However perfect happiness can’t be achieved in this life so we must be immortal and only God can provide immortality so God exists to guarantee the summum bonum

Explain the 3rd postulate

Freedom

• Freedom of the will = core of morality

• We can’t prove we’re free but we know A Prior that we are

• If we’re not free morality is pointless

• By choosing to act you presuppose you’re free

List some of the ways Kantian ethics is compatible with Christianity

• Duty links to commands given by God to love others

• Deontological and rational like NML

• Cat Imp like 10 commandments, must be obeyed and are intrinsically good

• Both seem to ignore society’s capacity for evil

• 2/3 postulates (God and immortality) are religious

• Summum Bonum = heaven?

• Good will = loving thy neighbour

How is Kantian Ethics incompatible with Christianity?

• Good will = intrinsic knowledge of what is right while Christianity has external influence giving morality eg scripture

• SE is situational while Kant’s is absolute

• Conscience as the voice of God does fit with the postulate of freedom

• Duty to be done just because but Christians behave to go to heaven

• Kant’s theory is based on reason, religion bases it on God

• Kant = deon SE = Teleo

What are the strengths of Kant’s theory?

• Kant’s principle of the Categorical Imperative and universalisability is simple and effective

• Highlights the problem with Bentham’s consequentialism

• His theory cuts out emotion in favour of reason

• His theory is influential today as the emphasis on human rights stems from him

• His main arguments can be understood in a secular manner

What are the weaknesses of Kant’s theory?

• His 3 postulates include religion which doesn’t work for atheists

• Doesn’t make it clear what to do with conflicting duties

• His theory is no more believable than DCT as both are guesswork

• Guessing consequences works - Bentham better?

• Justifies animal cruelty and ignores that some don’t have the intellect to carry out their duty

Who was Ross and how did he adapt Kant’s theory?

• Scottish philosopher

• He describes our obligation as “prima facie” duties

• These are fidelity, gratitude, justice etc

How did Ross differentiate between the two types of duties?

• Prima facie duties = self-evident/ obvious duties

• Actual duties = the duty people are left with once wieghed up all conflicting prima facie duties

What did Ross say about duties?

Prima facie duties are responsibilities to ourselves and others but what we should do (our actual duty) is determined by the balance of these responsibilities

What are some problems with Ross and what solution does he suggest?

• How can we tell which prima facie duty is involved in each case?

• How do we compare/rank them to find the actual duty

• Suggests this can be solved by relying on intuition

Summarise Bentham’s Act Utilitarianism

• Decisions about right and wrong are made situationally rather than applying general moral principles

• Insists people are motivated to seek pleasure and avoid pain

• This is observable in human behaviour

What is the Principle of Utility?

• Believed right/wrong should be judged according to whether they benefitted the people involved

• Argued for the greatest good for the greatest number

How was Bentham a forward thinking philosopher?

• Believed everyone had equal right to happiness/ benefit irrespective of status

• He was opposed to privilege

• This reflected his social + political views, was democratic which challenged his society

• Offered a “scientific approach” to morality as once benefit could be quantified it could be apportioned on that basis

• He worked on empirical evidence

Explain Bentham’s Hedonic Calculus

• It was used to calculate pleasure created by a particular action

• These included: Intensity, duration, certainty, purity and extent

• Some say its too clinical but fits with his scientific approach

• Made no claims to identify which pleasures are superior

• Said each person is worth the same as another

How is the Hedonic Calculus inclusive?

• Also extends to animals/ children - he said many animals are smarter than the most intelligent humans

• Animals treated as part of the moral community

What are the strengths of Bentham’s theory?

• Realistic, we all seek pleasure

• Promotes positive life experiences

• Is straightforward and flexible

• Takes animals into consideration

• Can be used both with and without religion

• Legal systems and politics use it

• Beneficial for the majority

What are the weaknesses of Bentham?

• Ignores the minority

• What if the greatest number seek something objectively bad eg: Hitler and supporters

• Happiness is subjective

• Excuses bad actions

• We don’t know that the outcome of something will be good

• Hedonic calculus is time consuming

How is utilitarianism consistent with Christianity?

• Jesus’ actions are utilitarian, judges in the moment - Sabbath made for man

• While laws must be obeyed, there are exceptions for extreme circumstances

• Bentham accepted religion in his assessment of self-interest + sympathy

• If religion makes us happy then it’s okay

How is Utilitarianism inconsistent with Christianity?

• Theory was formulated independently of belief in God

• Self-interest is inevitable for util, Christianity is about being selfless

• Believed a properly utilitarian society had to be secular

• Happiness for Bentham must be evident now while Christianity finds it in the afterlife

• Christianity focuses on the weaker members of society eg: meek and poor, Bentham considers all equally

• Christianity is more legalistic