4. Explain and critically assess Kant’s argument that one has a duty to preserve one’s own life. As rational beings Kant believes we have a categorical duty of self-preservation to not wilfully take our own lives. Kant talks in depth about duty and believes we should act out of respect for the moral law. The will is the only inherent good‚ as we are only motivated by duty and nothing else. We should act only out of demands of the law‚ not from inclination‚ desires or to achieve a particular
Premium Categorical imperative Immanuel Kant Morality
Born in 1724‚ Immanuel Kant became an extremely important Prussian philosopher. His parents were poor as he grew up‚ and were part of a strict religious group – a protestant group known as Pietism. When he was sixteen‚ Kant went to university in Prussia and received the equivalent of a doctoral degree by the age of 31. He taught as a professor of logic and mathematics at the university and was an extremely popular lecturer‚ because people wanted to hear what he had to say. He wrote several notable
Premium Philosophy Immanuel Kant Epistemology
Immanuel Kant’s moral theory can be best explained by comparing it to a math equation. Kant’s moral system will always hold true no matter what the circumstance just like how two plus two will always equal four. According to Kant‚ our lives should be lived according to maxims that can be willed into universal law (Kant‚ Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals‚ p 303). However the action regarding a moral decision is not judged by the consequences of that action‚ rather by the motive
Premium Immanuel Kant Philosophy Morality
Ethical Theory Summary This is an outline and summary of three of the most prominent ethical theories in the history of philosophy. (Note that all three of these represent different ethical absolutist/universalist theories. A view known as ethical relativism follows these.) Please take this as a sketch that invites you to investigate these ethical theories further. After each brief sketch‚ I will provide some web links that will be helpful to read. Virtue Ethics (especially Aristotle)
Premium Ethics Morality Business ethics
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
Premium Morality Categorical imperative Immanuel Kant
Kant: The Humanity Formula "Few formulas in philosophy have been so widely accepted and variously interpreted as Kant’s injunction to treat humanity as an end in itself"(Hill‚ 38). Immanuel Kant’s views‚ as elucidated in his book‚ Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals‚ are based on the belief that "people count" by prohibiting actions which exploit other individuals in order for self-prosperity or altruistic ends. Ethics then‚ are confirmed by the dignity and worth of the rational agency of
Premium Morality Immanuel Kant Categorical imperative
When should we discard explanations that are intuitively appealing? Intuition and reasoning together lead the individual to personal truths. Intuition is man’s personal experience with knowledge‚ derived from the world order around him and his coming to know explanations to be true. Is intuition the most beneficial method of acquiring knowledge? Man’s instincts instruct him on how to feel towards an idea or concept‚ and whether to hold it to be true. However‚ these natural responses do not characterize
Premium Philosophy Immanuel Kant Epistemology
Cited: The Holy Bible: King James Version. Dallas‚ TX: Brown Books Publishing‚ 2004. Kant‚ Immanuel. Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. Cambridge University Press. 2012. Print.
Premium Morality Immanuel Kant Categorical imperative
journey to conquer death via his ambition to construct eternal lives. It is critical to note that the emergence of modern philosophy was accompanied by the scientific revolution‚ marked by great thinkers including Francis Bacon‚ Rene Descartes and Immanuel Kant‚ whom introduced the power of inductive reasoning and knowledge over the ancient orders. Victor Frankenstein participates in this popular scheme of his time‚ first observed through his escalated disputation with his professor at medical school
Premium Scientific method Immanuel Kant Frankenstein
“Once upon a time‚ in some out of the way corner of that universe which is dispersed into numberless twinkling solar systems‚ there was a star upon which clever beasts invented knowing” (Nietzsche‚ “On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense” L.10). There is no better way to begin this paper‚ for all the concepts that I write down are inherently trivial and hold no cosmological significance. The inevitable extinction of consciousness is impartial to this expression of my collective synapses. I hope that
Premium Morality Ethics Immanuel Kant