Kantian ethics - Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2024)

FAQs

What is the main idea of Kantian ethics? ›

Kant argued that the moral law is a truth of reason, and hence that all rational creatures are bound by the same moral law. Thus in answer to the question, “What should I do?” Kant replies that we should act rationally, in accordance with a universal moral law.

Kant's ethics, which he expounded in the Critique of Practical Reason (1788) and the earlier Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785), was based on the principle known as the “categorical imperative,” one formulation of which is, “Act only on that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it should ...

Kantianism emphasizes the principles behind actions rather than an action's results. Acting rightly thus requires being motivated by proper universal principles that treat everyone with respect. When you're motivated by the right principles, you overcome your animal instincts and act ethically.

This means that Kant's theory is deontological rather than teleological. It focuses on our duties rather than our ends/goals/consequences. There is, however, something intuitive about the idea that morality is based on reason rather than feelings or consequences.

Kantian ethics is deontological, revolving entirely around duty rather than emotions or end goals. All actions are performed in accordance with some underlying maxim or principle, which are vastly different from each other; it is according to this that the moral worth of any action is judged.

The most common and general criticisms are that, because it concentrates on principles or rules, Kantian ethics is doomed to be either empty and formalistic or rigidly uniform in its prescriptions (the complaints cannot both be true).

Kant argued that we have an obligation to sometimes help out others in need. To help people out is to make their ends our ends. For example, if you see that someone is poor and hungry, his end at that point might be to get food. If you give him food or money to buy food, you are making it your end to feed him.

It is easier to determine an action as morally right in Kantian ethics than in utilitarian ethics. When data is scarce, Kantian theory offers more precision than utilitarianism because one can generally determine if somebody is being used as a mere means, even if the impact on human happiness is ambiguous.

Deontology derives from the Greek deont, which refers to that which is binding[1]. Kant's deontological philosophy stemmed from his belief that humans possess the ability to reason and understand universal moral laws that they can apply in all situations.

In the case of Virtue Ethics, the development of a virtuous character is necessary before we can identify what a right action would be. This is evident in Hursthouse's characterisation quoted above. In Kantian Ethics, the development of a good will is necessary for the performance of right actions.

Is Kantian ethics the same as utilitarianism? ›

But there are several reasons why Kantian ethics is essentially different from any form of utilitarianism. First, and perhaps most conspicuously, Kant's system relies on a strict distinction between perfect and imperfect duty, which he adapted from the natural law tradition of eighteenth-century rationalism.

Kant's Moral Theory. Like Utilitarianism, Imannual Kant's moral theory is grounded in a theory of intrinsic value. But where the utilitarian take happiness, conceived of as pleasure and the absence of pain to be what has intrinsic value, Kant takes the only think to have moral worth for its own sake to be the good will ...

Kant argued that we have an obligation to sometimes help out others in need. To help people out is to make their ends our ends. For example, if you see that someone is poor and hungry, his end at that point might be to get food. If you give him food or money to buy food, you are making it your end to feed him.

o Kant's approach to ethics is based on the two key ideas of Reason and Duty, which form a consistent deontological system - -according to these theories, the rightness or wrongness of actions does not depend on their consequences but on whether they fulfil our duty.