Morality and Kantian Perspective

The Kantian Perspective Immanuel Kant created a new perspective in philosophy which had widespread influences on contemporary philosophy work. Through all his achievements in philology, his moral Philosophy will be discussed in this paper. According to Kant’s theory, moral laws relate to fairness and consistency. Both of these concepts lead to the principle of universalizability. He stated that, “An act is morally acceptable if and only if its maxim is universalizable.” To prove his statement he used two imperatives which are hypothetical imperatives and Categorical Imperatives. “Categorical Imperatives” is a single moral obligation that relates to the concept of duty which Kant defines as a major content in this obligation. Kant assessed the principle of universalizability by denying benevolence which he also used in his other theory “the principle of humanity.” Both of his principles proved the relationship between morality and rationality. Kant did show his opposition to utilitarianism and handled the shortcomings of consequentialism. On the other hand, the Kantian perspective has its own problems that are neatly addressed by consequentialism. The Kantian perspective did draw strong claims compared to utilitarianism in some concepts; however, Kant’s theory did have its problems generally. Consistency and Fairness are considered to be basic concepts to define Kantian perspective. However, both tests in these concepts have shortcomings to prove the relationship between consistency and moral standards. Then he found the principle of universalizability: “An act is morally acceptable if and only if its maxim is universalizable.” (SHAFER-LANDAU, 147) A maxim has two parts and states what you are about to do, and why you are about to do it. According to Kant, every action has a maxim, and we cite the maxim when we try to explain to others why we act as we do. In this case, that means if we lack a maxim, then we aren’t really acting at all. Therefore Kant values

Cited: Shafer-Landau Russ, . The fundamentals of ethics. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. 322-13. Print.