Kant and the Categorical Imperative Essay

The possibility of the existence of duty and wrong has been a subject of discussion among philosophers for centuries and m whatever theories fork up been presented to answer the question of whether deterrent pillow slips exist. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), the great German philosopher is champion who has contributed profoundly to the world of philosophy and special(a)ly in regards to his thought on the subject of undecomposedity. Kant disagreed with Hume that morality is objective and non subjective. Kant wanted to propose a pure moral philosophy, one of absolute necessity and independent of all human feelings, because if it not so, it pass on not be absolute and binding upon every person. The purpose of morality is to affect our behaviour and that it is undercoat that makes humans moral and not feelings or preferences. We shall explore almost of the a priori foundations of morality paying special attention to Kants prostrate unequivocal and what ex hazardly this was des igned to solve in moral theory.To commence moral worth, an act must be through with(p) in the name of ones duty, the moral worth of this act is taken from the principle from which its determined, not from what it aims to accomplish and that duty is necessary when one is acting aside of respect for the truth. A shopkeeper giving the buyer the right amount of budge because the law states one must not steal, this is an example of a legal go through because rules ar being followed but for the wrong reasons. A shopkeeper returning the correct amount of change because it belongs to the customer is an example of a moral action because the action is being done for the right reasons. Kant adopts the view of morality as an unconditional ought, as opposed to a conditional ought By this he means that one should carry out an act without considerations of the merits that that act whitethorn produce, in comparison with acting in order for aroundthing else to happen. This implies that act s that are moral are those that are done without being done for the involvement of the merit or reward that they may bring to the person.Kant claimed that moral behaviour does not guarantee the attainment of happiness rather that approximate forget is crucial for actually deserving happiness. Nothing in the worldindeed nothing even beyond the world washbowl possibly be conceived which could be called good without qualificationexcept a good allow (Kant 1964 p.27). By the good will Kant means that a good will is not good because what it performs or what it effects but that it is simply good in itself. The good will is the will which acts out of respect for the moral law and from freedom, but actions such as these, if motivated by selfish or emotional factors, will then have no moral worth. There is a great have it off of stress placed on the intention behind the act, consider giving money to charity for the sake of helping out, without any need for any ego gratification or such self-serving purposes, this is an compositors case of good will.Kants most well known contribution to ethical discussion is the compressed exigent. There are common chord key propositions that form the basis of Kants ethics. They are act nevertheless on that maxim (principle) through which you can at the same time will that it should find a frequent law, act in a way that you never treat humanity as a means to an end and that you act as if you were a lawmaker member of a kingdom of ends. These three principles form the insipid imperative. For Kant the source of moral justification is the categorical imperative. It presents a method to determine whether or not an act may be considered to be morally correct. An imperative is either categorical or so-called. Kant writes, If now the action is good only as a means to something else, then the imperative is hypothetical if it is conceived as good in itself and consequently as being necessarily the principle of a will which of itse lf conforms to reason, then it is categorical . . . . (Kant 1989 p.31)As humans we all have subjective impulses appetencys and inclinations that may contradict the dictates of reason. These desires, whether they are material objects or gratify us in a sexual or psychological way, may in fact contradict the dictates of reason. Therefore we experience the claim of reason as an imperative, a miss to act in a particular way. Kant views a person to be most free when they can overcome their temptations and it is this freedom that helps us make sense of morality.The categorical imperative emphasises the means for completing an action and places little meaning on the end result of an action, whereas the hypothetical imperative places much emphasis on the end result of an action. It is an imperative because it dictates what we should do, disregarding our desires. As lucid beings we are guided through liveliness bylaws and principles, in the form of an imperative which simply orders us y ou must do this regardless of any desires which we may have. Hypothetical imperatives apply to us if we have a particular desire, go to university if you want to become a philosopher.An act becomes imperative when it ought to be applied to everyone, hence the basic statement of the categorical imperative being to act only on maxims that you could will to become universal laws of human nature (Kant).A categorical imperative would command you to do X inasmuch as X isintrinsically right, that is, right in and of itself, aside from any other considerationsno ifs, no conditions, no strings attached . . . a categorical imperative isunconditional (no ifs) and independent of any things, circumstances, goals, or desires.It is for this reason that only a categorical imperative can be a universal and bindinglaw, that is, a moral law, valid for all rational beings at all times. (Miller 1984 p.462)Immorality then would be to make exceptions for ourselves by acting only on maxims that we cannot u niversalize out of our own will. It is those who act in such a way and then inquire others to act different to our way, who are immoral.The categorical imperative acts as a formula for universal law by stating the prerequisites that an act must have to be considered moral, it presents a comparison for people to be fitting to see if they are acting morally, this being to act only on principles that you could will to become universal laws by which all who wish to act morally must comply with. It determines whether any act is right or wrong, so to do the opposite would be contradictory andthis would then be an act that is not morally correct. An example that Kant puts forward in Good Will, Duty, and the Categorical Imperative, (1989) to depict this is of a man who is in extreme despair and contemplating suicide. By taking his own feeling he would be universalizing the principle that in order to love himself he should end his life (by doing this he is trying to improve his life by en ding the despair he is feeling). Killing himself would in fact do nothing to improve his life because he would have no life at all So you see how these contradictory acts break those that may be classified as morally right.Although Kants categorical imperative has been widely read and accepted by some it has had criticism. Some philosophers have thought of it as absolutist, being too smutty and white. But when thinking of humanity and society in which we reside, looking at morality according to the categorical imperative allows a standard rule for everyone to follow. If it was alright for some people to steal and not others this we could not call a moral and fair society. There needs to be a rule or comparison so that what acts are right and what are wrong may be differentiated from each(prenominal) other and the wrong acts then dealt with accordingly.Some have asked how only an action which one had no desire to do could ever have any moral worth. This to me does not seem to be what is trying to be expressed in Kantian ethics. It is not the desire per se that makes an act immoral, I think it seems that it is much the fact of this desire being the reason the act is conducted in the first place. If the act is done to commit a personal desire or attain that which one desires, then the act is immoral, but if the act is done for the good of the act in itself, for example donating money to an orphanage because one desires to help, then this is let off what Kant would regard as a morally right act.Although Kantianism has had a profound effect on some people, producing many elaborations, translations and thought, for some it is not feasible once placed together as a whole. Kant had some very profound ideas but looking at society tody I would think he was in spades on the right thought pattern. Society and we as humans, with our impulses whether good or bad, need a subtile ethics to follow to help us separate what may be considered right and wrong in a moral sen se, and it must be fair and the same for everyone, this is what Kants categorical imperative has done by creating a universal law or rule of thumb for morality.ReferencesKant, I. 1989 Good Will, Duty, and the Categorical Imperative. ed. Serafini, A. ethics and Social Concern, the categorical imperative. New York Paragon HousePublishersKant, I. 1964 Groundwork and the Metaphysics of Morals, ed. Herbert J. Paton, NewYork HarperCollins.Miller, Ed. L. 1984 Questions that Matter An Invitation to Philosophy, 3rd ed. atomic number 27 McGraw-Hill, Inc.http//sguthrie.net/kant.htm (accessed on 12/10/04)