Deontology

• the difference between humans and animals, according to Kant, is that animals act on desire, and humans can be motivated by reason
• animals act on desire
• divine beings act on reason
• humans act on a mixture of desire and reason, the aim is to align ourselves with the divine
• what is morally good is acting freely with action generated through reason
• when driven by desire, actions are not free and therefore are not moral
• humanity is imperfectly rational
• reason determines what our duties are and gives us means to discover them
• morality is only possible because we have free will and autonomy is only achieved when we use reason to create moral laws
• kants premise is that maxims are principles of choice
• maxims are initially subjective and personal , they aim to become objective when univeralised
• "Act only on that maxim which you can at the same time will to become univeral law." - Kant
• maxim


  personal principles to guide our decisions
• morality 


  a set of principles that are thee same for everyone and apply to everyone
• the will


  ability to make decisions and choices
• wills are rational
• choices are made on the basis of reason
• the will is the subjective principle of voilition - a practical principle to all rational beings
• Only the good will is morally good without quaification
• All other motivations(except the good will) are corruptible
• Kant argues that

  1. Having a good will is a precondition to deserving happiness
  2. What is good about the good will is not what it achieves but the fact it is good in itself
• to have a good will is to be motivated by duty
• acting in accordance with duty is to simply do what is morally right because it aligns with your goals. that doesnt necessarily mean your acting out of duty as it may not be your sole motivation
• acting in accordance with duty doesnt posess moral worth
• no ends are good without qualification
• What is right must arise from reason
• Kant is a moral absolutist
• according to Kant, moral duties cannot be hypothetical, they must depend on rationality
• hypothetical imperative


  where whether or not we do something is contingent on desire
• categorical imperative


  commands to follow regardless of desire. They are moral obligations derived from reason
• we should act according to the categorical imperative as moral law is binding on all of us
• hypothetical imperatives are about prudence rather than morality
• categorical imperatives are understood via formulations

  1. 1st formulation - univeralisability principle
  2. 2nd formulation - formulation of humanity
  3. 3rd formulation - autonomy
• The first formulation concerns univeralisabilty. We have a perfect duty to act without contradiction
• stealing creates a contradictory society and therefore immoral
• There are two ways to contradict the moral law: through conception and trough will
• contradiction of will means that one cannot rationally will a maxim to be univeralisable
• contradiction of conception is where it is contradictory to univeralise
• "act so that you treat humanity , whether in your own person or in that of another,always as and end and never as a mere means" - kant
• humanity are ends in themselves