Examples Of Perfect Duties In Law 421

In 421, Kant assets that to be a moral being, we can engage in actions or act according the maxim or principle in which that maxim could become by our will a universal law. This maxim or principal is applicable to everyone and I could not be of exception. According to the categorical imperative, we must comply with certain duties. Kant draws a distinction between perfect duties and imperfect duties. A perfect duty is a maxim, which one must always do. An imperfect duty shall not be ignored, but it’s possible to be fulfilled in different ways. Unlike perfect duties, there are no legitimate exceptions to perfect duties. Examples of perfect duties could be “one must not lie” or “one must not take its own life”. Examples of imperfect duties could
be “duty to help others” or “duty to improve oneself”. We can suggest that we face a contradiction when dealing with perfect duties. Lets consider “one must not lie” in the situation of a murderer at your door. You know that you have a duty “not to lie” but you are also aware that if you tell the truth, you will die. You also have a duty to preserve your own life. By telling the truth, you are somehow committing suicide, which Kant recognizes as immoral. These perfect duties contradict each other. In this case we can suggest that we can bring an exception to this perfect duty. “It is permissible to lie to preserve one’s life”, but if we universalize this maxim, then the concept of truth and lie would become meaningless in these situations. It would also be pointless for the murderer to even ask any questions from its victim since it’s universally assumed that the victim will always lie in this situation.