Immanuel Kant (17241804)
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Defends a deontological
approach to morality.
Everyone must admit
that if a law is to be
morally valid…then it
must carry with it
absolute necessity.
The ground of
obligation…must be
sought apriori in the
concepts of pure
reason.
Kantian Ethics
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Morality is a sacred duty, not a means
to happiness. (A good will is more
important than a good life.) Reason can
discern the moral law. The will chooses
which actions to perform. Inclination
reflects how one feels about one’s
options. When reason (not inclination)
directs the will, one does one’s duty.
The motive of duty.
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Acting from inclination
or acting from duty. An
action has moral worth
if and only if it is done
from the motive of
duty. The prudent
shopkeeper acts
honestly because it is
good policy. Such acts
have no moral worth.
Nor do the kind acts of
helpful people.
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The cold, uncaring
person who helps
others because duty
commands it, has moral
worth.
Hypothetical imperative,
if you want x, do j.
Conditional.
Categorical imperative:
Unconditional
commands. Do X!
(Whether you like it or not.)
The Categorical Imperative
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Act only on a maxim which you could (at that
time) will to become a universal law.
Act as if the maxim of your action would
instantly become a general law of nature.
Maxim: I do action x in circumstances C to obtain end E.
1. Find the maxim; 2. Universalize; 3. Imagine the universalized
maxim as a natural law; 4. Ask “Is this a possible law of nature?”
5. Ask “Can one will this to be a law of nature?”
CI 3: Act so as to treat humanity (yourself and others) always as
an end, never merely as a means.
Determining one’s duty
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Suicide: A man reduced to
despair by a series of
misfortunes feels wearied of
life, but is still so far in
possession of his reason that
he can ask himself whether
it would not be contrary to
his duty to himself to take
his own life.
Deceit: Another finds himself
forced by necessity to borrow
money. He knows that he will
not be able to repay it, but sees
also that nothing will be lent to
him unless he promises stoutly
to repay it in a definite time.
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Talent: A third finds in himself
a talent which with the help of
some culture might make him a
useful man in many respects.
But he finds himself in
comfortable circumstances and
prefers to indulge in pleasure
rather than to take pains in
enlarging and improving his
happy natural capacities.
Charity: A fourth, who is in
prosperity, while he sees that
others have to contend with
great wretchedness and that he
could help them, thinks: 'What
concern is it of mine?
Kant’s Basic Idea
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If you accept any considerations as
reasons in one case, you must accept
them as reasons in other cases.
Doesn’t require absolutism: If we
violate a rule, we must do so for
reasons we would be willing to allow
anyone to accept in similar
circumstances.
John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806
– 8 May 1873)
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Mill objected to Kant’s
reliance on reason to
discover moral law.
Such a method makes it
too easy to mistake
support of the status
quo for genuine moral
discovery. Instead,
moral views should
conform to an external,
empirical standard.
Mill’s Utilitarianism
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Greatest Happiness Principle: Actions are
right in proportion as they tend to promote
happiness, wrong as they tend to promote
the reverse of happiness. Happiness is
pleasure and freedom from pain.
Unhappiness is pain and the privation of
pleasure. Pleasure and freedom from pain
are the only things desirable as ends.
An invitation to indulgence?
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A beasts pleasures do not
satisfy a human being’s
conception of happiness.
Human beings have faculties
more elevated than the
animal appetites, and when
once made conscious of
them, do not regard
anything as happiness which
does not include their
gratification.
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It is quite compatible with
the principle of utility to
recognise the fact, that some
kinds of pleasure are more
desirable and more valuable
than others. It would be
absurd that while, in
estimating all other things,
quality is considered as well
as quantity, the estimation
of pleasures should be
supposed to depend on
quantity alone.
Ways to Measure Pleasure:
Quantity and Quality.
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Pleasure is not just a
matter of quantity.
Higher quality
pleasures (like using
one’s mind,
creativity, doing
good deeds, having
friends) are more
desirable and make
life more worth
living than mere
bodily sensations.
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It is better to be a human
being dissatisfied than a pig
satisfied; better to be
Socrates dissatisfied than a
fool satisfied. And if the fool,
or the pig, are a different
opinion, it is because they
only know their own side of
the question. The other
party to the comparison
knows both sides.
The Aim of Utilitarianism
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An existence exempt as far as
possible from pain, and as rich as
possible in enjoyments, both in
point of quantity and quality.
Morality consists in the rules
which, if followed, would secure
this end for all sentient beings.
Utilitarianism and Justice
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A standard objection to utilitarianism alleges that the
theory will require the use of unjust means whenever
doing so is likely to produce a greater balance of
pleasure. This would permit a policy of punishing the
innocent to avert a riot, to deter wrongdoers, etc.
Utilitarians may respond by pointing out that, in fact,
no society which falsely accuses innocent citizens will
promote a greater balance of pleasure in the long
run. The greater good can only be attained in a
society that upholds basic principles of justice (e.g..
the guilty are punished and the innocent acquitted).
Ayer’s Critique of Utilitarianism
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Verificationism: An
empirical hypothesis is
significant (legitimate)
only if some possible
sense experience is
relevant for determining
its truth or falsity.
Utilitarianism claims
actions are good if they
produce pleasure or
reduce pain.
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We cannot agree that to
call an action right is to
say...it would
cause...the greatest
balance of
pleasure...because it is
not self-contradictory to
say it is....wrong to
perform the action that
would...cause the
greatest happiness.