 Normative application of Kantian moral theory.
 Third Formulation of the Categorical
Imperative: “Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never simply as a means but always at the same time as an end.”

 A maxim is a principle that underlies or informs an act or set of actions.
 Several acts may satisfy the underlying maxim or principle.

Famine Example: “Try to reduce the risk or severity of world hunger”

 Several possible actions/policies will satisfy the requirements of the principle
 Individual contributions/government aid/volunteering


“ We use others as mere means if what we do reflects some maxim to which they could not in principle consent .”
(134)
 Deception (actual maxim must be kept secret)
 Coercion

 Avoid using others as mere means.
 Wholly rational and autonomous – if such beings existed we would only need to avoid using them as mere means.

 Perfect duties are those that we have in virtue of someone’s having a rights claim against us.
 Imperfect duties generate obligations, but these obligations are to individuals in general and not to any specific individual.

Justice to the Vulnerable in Kantian
Thinking

“ Justice requires action that conforms (at least outwardly) to what could be done in a given situation while acting on maxims neither of deception nor coercion.”(136)
 Further discussion of famine and justice pp.137-138

“The basis for beneficent action is that we cannot without it, treat others of limited rationality and autonomy as ends in themselves.”(138)


Extreme deprivation curtails one’s ability to engage in autonomous action.
 Our beneficence is not intended to merely make others happy, though an increase in autonomy may make others happier.

“When famines were not only far away, but nothing could be done to relieve them, beneficence or charity may well have begun —and stayed—at home. In a global village, the moral significance of distance has shrunk, and we may be able to affect the capacities for autonomous action of those who are far away.”(139)