STARTER – PAIR UP
ENTER PUPILS NAMES HERE
WORK TOGETHER TO ANSWER THE QUESTION
ON YOUR SHEETS.
WILF: A good examination of the duties of
three professions and the duty of oneself.
Immanuel Kant
WILF: A good examination of the
duties of three professions and
the duty of oneself.
WILF: A written response to how
we use reason to decide good
and bad actions.
WILF: A clear and concise
presentation on Kant’s theory of
duty.
1724-1804
WALT:
1. To explore
Kant’s theory of
duty.
2. To examine
the implication
of good will and
reason on Kant’s
theory of duty.
Kantian Ethics:
The Basics
Kant’s Ethics
A. Kant’s ethical theory can be described as
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
deontological.
Moral actions should be performed as a matter of duty.
Humans are seeking an ultimate end called the
supreme good (summum bonum).
This cannot be achieved in this lifetime, humans must
therefore be immortal.
The existence of morality proves the existence of God.
Moral law is known through reason and is independent
of belief in God.
The Basics
 Kant’s approach is Deontological. This means that
for Kant, the right or wrongness of the action is in
the action itself, and not in its consequences.
 Kant is a rationalist. He believes that reason is the
means by which we can analyse the world.
 Kant sets out his ideas in his book “Grounding for
the Metaphysics of Morals”, and discusses it
further in his “Critique of Practical Reason”
Reason
 Kant, along with other philosophers of the
‘enlightenment’, attaches great importance to man’s
ability to reason
 A human being is essentially, a rational being, and it is
this that constitutes his intrinsic dignity.
 Reason, says Kant, is an innate, intellectual power
existing more or less equally in all men, it enables the
individual to resolve problems in a way, more or less
acceptable to everyone.
 If reason is universal, the moral commands generated
by reason will be universal and applicable to all men.
The Good Will
 Write down 10 possible
reasons for the younger
person’s actions in the
picture.
 Put a tick or a cross to
indicate which were good or
bad reasons.
 Consider whether the action
was good or bad –what are
you using to formulate your
judgement?
The Good Will
 In the search for intrinsic ‘good’, Kant did not believe that any
outcome was inherently good. Pleasure or happiness could
result out of the most evil acts. He also did not believe in
‘good’ character traits, as ingenuity, intelligence, courage etc.
could all be used for evil. In fact, he used the term good to
describe the ‘good will’, by which he meant the resolve to act
purely in accordance with one’s duty. He believed that, using
reason, an individual could work out what one’s duty was.
 Kant wanted to put GOOD WILL at the very centre of ethics
GOOD WILL +DUTY = A MORAL ACTION
 This is the opposite of Hume's argument that morality is only
based in making people happy and fulfilling their desires.
Duty
 The only thing, Kant says, which is good in and of
itself is what he calls a Good Will.
 The Good Will is a sense of duty we have to do the
right thing.
 He believed that “all rational beings” have the duty
to behave morally.
KANT
REASON
Good will
Duty
Moral Principles
THE QUESTIONER
THE SUMMARISER
 Ask questions which will help
 Tell the group what you have
the group to understand what
has been read.
 Thinks of questions to ask as
they read the text.
read in your own words.
 Only tell the important
information, not the little details.
 Keep it as short as you can!
 It is a reminder of what has been
read so far.
THE PREDICTOR
 Use what you have read or
clues from the illustrations to
help figure out what the group
will learn or what will happen in
the text.
 You can change your
predictions as you read on!
THE CLARIFER
You must clarify whenever you:
 Read a word you don’t
understand.
 Find that sentence doesn’t
make sense.
 Are confused by what you have
read.
In The Boardroom . . . Pitch your
Ideas
WILF: A clear and concise
presentation on Kant’s theory of
duty.
The task:
You will split into 2 groups.
You must clearly present
Kant’s theory of duty.
Use pages
39-41
Be as creative as you like
for presenting your ideas in
the boardroom. Everyone is
expected to speak.
“It is impossible to conceive of anything at You will be judged on how
all in the world, or even out of it, which can well you work as a group,
how well you pitch, and how
be taken as good without qualification,
clear your presentations
except a good will.” (Groundwork for the
are.
Metaphysics of Moral)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0kWvf6wJyw
What does the word deontological mean?
How does Kant know what his duty is?
What role does good will play in Kant’s theory of duty?
Numbered Heads
Together
How do we use reason to decide good and bad actions?
What does Kant use to determine moral principles?
What does absolute mean?
HOMEWORK
 Find out the definitions of the
essential terminology.
Use page 36 in the OCR Religious Ethics for AS
and A2 textbook for a list of the key terminology.