KANTIAN ETHICS
Kant argues your actions are irrelevant for morality if:
- You do something for yourself and expect to benefit
- You are motivated by natural interest
- You act because you are ordered to do so. Obidence may be a
virtue but your choice to obey is not a duty
Decisions should be based on duty NOTHING ELSE. certain things
are intrinsically right or wrong.
It could be questioned whether love is a duty or emotion some
would argue that when we are initially drawn to someone we are
influenced by our emotions, but with time we stay committed to
them owing to a sense of duty. Kant was adamant that emotions
should not influence ethical decisions. This however seems to go
against human nature and some people would argue that both
emotions and duty can motivate us to do the right thing.
“without freedom there is no choice without choice there is no
struggle, without struggle there is no morality” – Kant
Kant and duty:
- Duty should be followed in every occasion
- With practical reason we can fulfil this duty, which is grounded
in the sense of “ought”
- “ought” implies we can act on duty
- We won’t feel ought about something we can’t or shouldn’t do
- Moral decisions should be based more on reason than emotion
- Talks about the importance of good-will
Kant believes that there are moral absolutes which we ought to
adhere to.
, Types of knowledge and statements:
- Analytic statement – statements that are true in themselves.
You are not gaining any new information
- Synthetic statements – truth of the statement is not contained
within the meaning
- A posteriori – we know things to be true from experience
- A priori – we know things to be true from prior experiences
Kant believed that moral statements were unlike other types of
language. He argued that they were ‘a priori synthetic’ they are not
true by definition but they are objectively true without having
experienced it.
a posteriori knowledge – we
analytic statements – this know things to be true
refers to statements which are because of experience. We
true within themselves e.g all develop
a prioriour knowledge
knowledge as
– this
bachelors are unmarried wetype
gainofmore experience
knowledge e.g
is known
males. These statements are our understanding
prior of science
to experience e.g laws
sometimes tautological as they develops
of maths as we conduct
don’t teach us anything new more experiments
synthetic statements – truth of
the statements is not
contained within the meaning
Kant – “you don’t have to experience something to know its wrong”
MORAL STATEMENTS
Kant argued moral statements are a priori synthetic
Kant argues your actions are irrelevant for morality if:
- You do something for yourself and expect to benefit
- You are motivated by natural interest
- You act because you are ordered to do so. Obidence may be a
virtue but your choice to obey is not a duty
Decisions should be based on duty NOTHING ELSE. certain things
are intrinsically right or wrong.
It could be questioned whether love is a duty or emotion some
would argue that when we are initially drawn to someone we are
influenced by our emotions, but with time we stay committed to
them owing to a sense of duty. Kant was adamant that emotions
should not influence ethical decisions. This however seems to go
against human nature and some people would argue that both
emotions and duty can motivate us to do the right thing.
“without freedom there is no choice without choice there is no
struggle, without struggle there is no morality” – Kant
Kant and duty:
- Duty should be followed in every occasion
- With practical reason we can fulfil this duty, which is grounded
in the sense of “ought”
- “ought” implies we can act on duty
- We won’t feel ought about something we can’t or shouldn’t do
- Moral decisions should be based more on reason than emotion
- Talks about the importance of good-will
Kant believes that there are moral absolutes which we ought to
adhere to.
, Types of knowledge and statements:
- Analytic statement – statements that are true in themselves.
You are not gaining any new information
- Synthetic statements – truth of the statement is not contained
within the meaning
- A posteriori – we know things to be true from experience
- A priori – we know things to be true from prior experiences
Kant believed that moral statements were unlike other types of
language. He argued that they were ‘a priori synthetic’ they are not
true by definition but they are objectively true without having
experienced it.
a posteriori knowledge – we
analytic statements – this know things to be true
refers to statements which are because of experience. We
true within themselves e.g all develop
a prioriour knowledge
knowledge as
– this
bachelors are unmarried wetype
gainofmore experience
knowledge e.g
is known
males. These statements are our understanding
prior of science
to experience e.g laws
sometimes tautological as they develops
of maths as we conduct
don’t teach us anything new more experiments
synthetic statements – truth of
the statements is not
contained within the meaning
Kant – “you don’t have to experience something to know its wrong”
MORAL STATEMENTS
Kant argued moral statements are a priori synthetic
