Kant: Kingdom of Ends and Broader Issues Phil 240, Intro to Ethical Theory Ben Hole, W5,L5

Administrative Notes Questions

Agenda Discuss the Humanity Formulation No clicker quiz! Agenda Discuss the Humanity Formulation Discuss the Kingdom of Ends Formulation and Broader Issues

Humanity Formulation “Act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means only.”

Problems for the Principle of Humanity The Basic Problem The notion of treating someone as an end is vague, and so the principle is difficult to apply. The principle fails to give us good advice about how to determine what people deserve. Problems for the Principle of Humanity

Autonomy Objection The principle assumes that the morality of our actions depends only on what we can autonomously control, but the existence of moral luck calls this into question. Moral luck: cases in which the morality of an action depends on factors outside of our control.

Autonomy Objection The principle assumes that we are genuinely autonomous, but that assumption may be false. Either our choices are necessitated, or they are not. If they are necessitated, then they are out of our control, and so we lack autonomy. If they are not necessitated, then they are random, and so we lack autonomy. Therefore, we lack autonomy.

Humanity applies to all rational beings …

But not to non-rational beings …

The Moral Standing Objection The principle cannot explain why those who lack rationality and autonomy are deserving of respect. If the principle of humanity is true, then animals have no rights. If animals have no rights, then it is morally acceptable to torture them. Therefore, if the principle of humanity is true, then it is morally acceptable to torture animals. It isn’t morally acceptable to torture animals! Therefore, the principle of humanity is false.

Big picture Formula of Universal Law Objections “Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law of nature.” Rigorism Vacuity (and Sneaky Maxim Makers) Covert Consequentialism

Big picture Formula of Universal Law Question “Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law of nature.” What are the rational will’s wider purposes?

Big picture Formula of Humanity Question “Act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means only.” How do you respect the ends of others?

Big picture The Kingdom of Ends Kant’s CI “So act as if you, by your own maxims, were at all times a legislative member in the universal realm of ends.” Kingdom of ends “A systematic union of rational beings by common objective laws.” Self-Legislation We, as rational agents, legislate the law to which we are subject. Co-Legislation Our maxims must be consistent with “the idea of the will of every rational being as a will giving universal law.”

The Free-Rider Problem

The Prisoner’s Dilemma It is individually rational not to cooperate. It is collectively rational to cooperate.

Social Contract Theory “The imaginary device through which equally imaginary individuals, living in solitude … come together to form a society, accepting obligations of some minimal kind to one another and immediately or very soon thereafter binding themselves to a political sovereign who can enforce those obligations” (Honderich, T., The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, 2nd eds, OUP 2005, pg. 174)

The Sovereign Kant and Hobbes agree that we are rationally required to leave the state of nature and submit to a coercive authority in order to adjudicate between conflicts of individual interests. For Kant, the rationale is autonomous. For Hobbes, the rational is heteronomous.

Big picture The Kingdom of Ends Kant’s CI “So act as if you, by your own maxims, were at all times a legislative member in the universal realm of ends.” Kingdom of ends “A systematic union of rational beings by common objective laws.” Self-Legislation We, as rational agents, legislate the law to which we are subject. Co-Legislation Our maxims must be consistent with “the idea of the will of every rational being as a will giving universal law.”

Equality of Parties Role of Agreement Contractarianism Contractualism Equality of Parties Descriptive Moral Basis for Cooperation Mutual Advantage Fairness Role of Agreement Underwrite a stable system of social interaction between actual agents Underwrite moral justifiability of Principles

Autonomy Discussion Is it morally permissible to (happily) consent to a life of slavery? How would Kant answer this question? How would Mill answer this question? How would Hobbes answer this question? In your assessment, which answer is better and why? The Happy Slave Question (about Autonomy)