Emmanuel Kant

Ethics of Duty
Fundamental Principle
What makes a will good?
Not what it performs: To undertake great, heroic deeds does not
make a will good.
Not its efects: Neither do good accomplishments negotiating
world peace or curing cancer.
Only the volition the act of willing makes the will good.
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Principle of a good will: DUTY
Not just according to duty:
Example of the shopkeeper for whom honesty is good usiness.
But from or for the sake of duty. Because duty requires.
!hether ad"antageous or not, e honest.
Only actions for the sake of duty have moral worth.
Other Examples
Philanthroist
Unworthy: Gives from a warm feeling of sympathy for others.
Worthy: Even with cold indifference to others, he gives because it is his duty.
But would such a person make a good husband (e.g. Karenin in
Anna Karenina) or parent?
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Principle: The Maxim
#$n action done from duty deri"es its moral worth, not from the
purpose to e attained y it, ut from the maxim y which it is
determined.%
!ome ossi"le ma#ims:
#& will rush my teeth twice a day.%
#& will decei"e my usiness partners for my own
ad"antage.%
#& will gi"e part of my surplus wealth to relief of the poor.%
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Principle: hat dut! is
#'uty is the necessity of acting from respect for the law.%
#The preeminent good which we call moral can therefore consist
in nothing else than the conception of law in itself, which is certainly
possile only in a rational eing.%
(o, in a way, )ant wants eternal laws for all men, ut without
*oses, *ount (inai or +od an o,ecti"e, purely rational morality.
"ant#s Fundamental $onclusion
#& am ne"er to act otherwise than -in such a way. that & could
also will that my maxim should ecome a uni"ersal law.%
$or %#amle & Promises
&n dificulties, & can sol"e my prolems with a false
promise. (hould &/
*aye not. 0ies are hard to sustain.
& could get caught. Then & would e worse of than efore.
%ut this maxim is &ased onl! on fear of conse'uences. (t#s not trul!
moral)
'ying & a universal law?
1an this maxim e a uni"ersal law: #!hen & 2nd myself in
troule, & will make false promises%/
No. #!ith such a law there would e no promises at all.%
No one would e"er elie"e my promises.
#3ence my maxim, as soon as it should e made a uni"ersal
law, would necessarily destroy itself.%
*ome important themes
4eauty of the moral life. *orality is something that
#connoisseurs% can admire.
5eal moral goodness does not cannot in"ol"e self6interest.
*oral goodness lies in the moment of decision. &ntending and trying is
as good as doing.
&n a sense, )ant wants a rationalist alternati"e to 1hristian ideas
of holiness, altruistic lo"e and duty to +od.
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The +eart of the (ssue: $ategorical (mperati,e
(inds of )merative
ypothetical: !f ! want this, then ! must"
To dri"e to 1hicago, & must use the Toll road or &678.
To preser"e my health & must exercise and eat a healthy diet.
*ategorical: +nder all conditions, no matter what, ) must-
$ categorical imperati"e is a command of reason.
*ategorical )merative
&t #represented an action as necessary of itself without reference
to another end, that is, as o,ecti"ely necessary.%
The one categorical imperati"e: #$ct only on that maxim wherey
you can at the same time till that it should ecome a uni"ersal law.%
)ant then gi"es some examples.
#irst Example: $uicide
5educed to despair y misfortunes, one asks, #&s it against duty
to take my own life/%
The maxim: #9rom self6lo"e & adopt it as a principle to shorten
my life when its longer duration is likely to ring more e"il than
satisfaction.%
4ut this could not possily e a law of nature, for life to destroy
itself.
$econd Example: #alse %romise
*axim: !hen & think myself in want of money, & will orrow it
and promise to repay, although & know & can ne"er do so.%
This might e consistent with my future welfare, ut:
&t would contradict itself as a uni"ersal law. ;romising itself
would ecome impossile.
&hird Example: 'eveloping &alents
*axim: (ince & am comfortale and en,oying a pleasant life, & will
neglect de"eloping my natural gifts.
$lthough we can en"ision a life of pleasant en,oyment, one
cannot will as a uni"ersal law that one neglect personal de"elopment.
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#ourth Example: (harity to Others
*axim: & will not contriute anything to others who are in
distress.
!e can en"ision such a society.
Ne"ertheless, it is self6contradictory for one might need the help
of others at some time. (o he cannot will this maxim as a uni"ersal law.
Practical )merative
#(o treat humanity, whether in you own person or in that of any
other, in e"ery case as an end, ne"er as a means only.%
.esect for Persons
&he )alue of &hings
/he worth of a thing is always conditional.
$ hammer is good, if you want to uild something. $ car is good,
if you want to go somewhere. $ slide rule or manual typewriter has
only sentimental "alue.
0 rational "eing e#ists as an end in itself, and not as a thing.
)mlications of Practical )merative
To commit suicide is to treat oneself as a means to a
tolerale life, as a means.
To promise falsely is to treat the other person as a means.
&t is to use him or her.
To neglect self impro"ement does not "iolate this
imperati"e, ut neither does it harmoni<e with it.
To ignore the happiness of others does not harmoni<e with
the respect one ought to ha"e for them as persons.
*onsequences of the Practical )merative
'ignity of the person: E"ery person is an end in himself
and not to e used as a tool.
9reedom: The rational eing determines his own eha"ior
and ought y right to act on his own.
$utonomy: The rational eing makes the laws of his own
eha"ior and ought not e go"erned y any laws, except
the laws of reason.
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