Kant S Moral Theory The Flaws
Kant’s Moral Theory: The Flaws
One of the most controversial aspects of Kant’s moral philosophy is his theory regarding the concept of duty. Duty is the moral necessity to perform actions for no other reason than to obey the dictates of a higher authority without any selfish inclination. Immanuel Kant states that the only moral motivation is a devotion to duty. The same action can be seen as moral if it is done for the sake of one’s duty but also as not moral (Kant distinguished between immoral and not moral) and simply praise-worthy if it is done out of inclination. Thus, to have moral worth, an action must be done from duty.
This theory has been deemed an anti-concept i.e. an inconsistent concept that obliterates other cardinal concepts. In this case, duty destroys rationality. Ayn Rand goes as far as to say duty is “a metaphysical and psychological killer”, thereupon hindering a man’s capacity to act according to his will and reason. Kant’s philosophy of duty is self-refuting. It relies on the rationality of humans and yet its authoritarian deontology deprives man of his rationality and confines him to strictly objective speculation and limited mental processing. If one strives only to pursue one’s duty and to live whereby the rules of an unaccountable authority take precedence over one’s own judgment, one cannot have the opportunity to be rational.
The objectivist view criticises the practicality of Kant’s theory and negates the existence of any such thing as “duty”. Humans are granted the opportunity to make choices in order to achieve certain goals. Duty states that people “must” perform certain actions, but it can be argued that we don’t have to do anything except live and die. Therefore, our lives are governed by laws of causality rather than duty, as we live to pursue means to a certain desired end and not to fulfil one’s duty. We all have a choice. You only have to do something if you wish to achieve something else, for example you need to work hard
One of the most controversial aspects of Kant’s moral philosophy is his theory regarding the concept of duty. Duty is the moral necessity to perform actions for no other reason than to obey the dictates of a higher authority without any selfish inclination. Immanuel Kant states that the only moral motivation is a devotion to duty. The same action can be seen as moral if it is done for the sake of one’s duty but also as not moral (Kant distinguished between immoral and not moral) and simply praise-worthy if it is done out of inclination. Thus, to have moral worth, an action must be done from duty.
This theory has been deemed an anti-concept i.e. an inconsistent concept that obliterates other cardinal concepts. In this case, duty destroys rationality. Ayn Rand goes as far as to say duty is “a metaphysical and psychological killer”, thereupon hindering a man’s capacity to act according to his will and reason. Kant’s philosophy of duty is self-refuting. It relies on the rationality of humans and yet its authoritarian deontology deprives man of his rationality and confines him to strictly objective speculation and limited mental processing. If one strives only to pursue one’s duty and to live whereby the rules of an unaccountable authority take precedence over one’s own judgment, one cannot have the opportunity to be rational.
The objectivist view criticises the practicality of Kant’s theory and negates the existence of any such thing as “duty”. Humans are granted the opportunity to make choices in order to achieve certain goals. Duty states that people “must” perform certain actions, but it can be argued that we don’t have to do anything except live and die. Therefore, our lives are governed by laws of causality rather than duty, as we live to pursue means to a certain desired end and not to fulfil one’s duty. We all have a choice. You only have to do something if you wish to achieve something else, for example you need to work hard