Summary Immanuel Kant - “The moral law” First‚ Kant presupposes that there is a moral law. That is‚ there exists some basis for morality beyond subjective description of it. He then begins with a series of identifications to answer how the moral law possibly gives a pure abstract form of a moral law that will ask if it is really moral. He says the only good thing that exists without qualifications is a good will (or good intentions). Other things may bring goodness‚ but always with qualifications
Premium Morality Immanuel Kant Categorical imperative
DOING THE RIGHT THING 21 This excerpt is from Michael J. Sandel‚ Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?‚ pp. 21-30‚ by permission of the publisher. The Runaway Trolley Suppose you are the driver of a trolley car hurtling down the track at sixty miles an hour. Up ahead you see ve workers standing on the track‚ tools in hand. You try to stop‚ but you can’t. The brakes don’t work.You feel desperate‚ because you know that if you crash into these ve workers‚ they will all die. (Let’s assume you know
Premium Ethics Morality Justice
The Consequential Theory or also known as‚ Consequentialism‚ in determining whether an act is considered as morally right or not‚ we rely solely on the consequence of the action itself. If the outcome of the action is positive‚ then the action is morally right. Based on consequentialism‚ we should opt for the action with the best overall consequences and we should always try to promote the best consequences. There are numerous types of consequentialism‚ however‚ we will focus mainly on egoistic
Premium Ethics Utilitarianism Morality
From the origin of Western philosophical thought‚ there has always been an interest in moral laws . As Hume points out in A Treatise of Human Nature‚ ¡§morality is a subject that interests us above all others.¡¨ Originally‚ thoughts of how to live were centered on the issue of having the most satisfying life with ¡§virtue governing one¡¦s relations to others¡¨‚ as written by J. B. Schneewind in Modern Moral Philosophy. Nevertheless‚ the view that there is one way to live that is best for everyone
Free Immanuel Kant Philosophy Morality
How "realistic" is Kantian "empirical realism"? Mainly by way of commentary on passages from the Analytic of Principles and Appendix to the Dialectic of the Critique of Pure Reason‚ Abela offers‚ first‚ the "priority-of-judgment" view: "Kant...banish[es] the idea of any epistemic intermediary between belief and the world" (35); "there is nothing outside judgment...that informs‚ constrains‚ or ultimately grounds objectively valid judgment" (139-40). The ultimate ground is simply the totality of one’s
Premium Perception Logic Metaphysics
Rebecca Chan Nature versus Nurture: Humans Should Morally Become Vegetarians To many‚ it is very acceptable and seemingly natural that humans include meat in their common diet. This practice can be found historically and globally across many countries and cultures. It is undeniable that humans are omnivores and have been for the past many millenniums. However‚ is consuming meat actually natural? What is acceptable may not be natural and may have become acceptable due to our environment
Free Morality Human
can will everyone acting on your maxim in all possible circumstances. But if you don’t know the meaning of a maxim‚ then you can’t fully understand what these two questions are asking of you. A maxim is defined by Kant as what you intend to do and why. Kant explains this
Premium Morality Immanuel Kant Ethics
on a singular person’s desires or wills. For Kant‚ categorical imperatives are the foundation for morality because they invoke “pure” reasons for our moral actions and decisions since each rational being reasons to act outside of their own personal desires or will which may cloud judgments or impose a biased verdict of the situation. Kant explains this by distinguishing two different kinds of imperatives; categorical and hypothetical. Obviously Kant is interested in categorical imperatives and uses
Premium Morality Immanuel Kant Categorical imperative
but also in society as a whole. As we know philosophy can be represented as the science of contrast of different views and thoughts. Philosophers present their point of view‚ concerning for example‚ ethics‚ life‚ world outlook‚ and the rest of society and must choose the most suitable idea. As proven‚ without dispute and disagreements the philosophy couldn’t rise to such a high level at where it is today. Hence‚ the philosophy and ethics are interrelated whereas ethics is one of the oldest philosophical
Premium Ethics Immanuel Kant Deontological ethics
of our human built environment‚ and whether we create it to be a comfort or a torment. To understand the place of art and beauty in contemporary culture‚ you need to turn to history. You could define art as vision or as intuition‚ as Benedetto Croce does in his essay "What is Art?" By this definition‚ the works of someone with a beautiful vision would be beautiful‚ and art would be an external manifestation of an internal state. The importance of art is related to the nature of our human built
Free Art Aesthetics