1. Kant Deontology Categorical Imperative

2. Immanuel Kant 1724-1804 Profile: Dead German Time of Berkley, Rousseau, Hume, Bentham Not a fan of music or arts – preferred maths and logic

3. Immanuel Kant 1724-1804 Lived his entire life in birth town of Konigsberg Boring – so regular housewives used to set their watches by him

4. Key Texts Critique of Pure Reason Critique of Practical Reason Critique of Judgement Groundwork for the Metaphysics of morals Metaphysics & epistemology Tough! Ethics Easier Beauty Try to read

5. Epistemology Rationalist (Reason = knowledge) Plato Descartes Leibniz Spinoza Empiricist (Experience = knowledge) Aristotle Hume Locke Mill

6. Kant wants to synthesise these two opposing views Key question: “What are the necessary conditions for knowledge?” Reason + Experience = Knowledge Human mind imposes structures on the world in order to make sense of it Eg: time, space and causality

7. Short Interlude… Deontology Deontology “Deon” = “Duty” “Deon” = “Duty” Utilitarianism=? Utilitarianism=? Teleological/ Consequentialist Teleological/ Consequentialist Bentham et al concerned with consequence Bentham et al concerned with consequence Kant concerned with action, intention Kant concerned with action, intention

8. Kant’s Morality Morals have an absolute value - absolutist, realist, objectivist They’re not ‘out there’ Morality is inside of us, we all have a sense of moral duty Wants a universal moral law

9. The Good Will The only thing of absolute value is: Intrinsically good Good without qualification -H-Happiness is neither “Nothing in the world can possibly be conceived which could be called good without qualification except a good will” (Groundwork)

10. God, Immortality and Free Will The idea of God is necessary for morality to be intelligible God is the guarantee that if you do the right thing you will yield the right results There must be life after death – you might not see the results of your good actions in this life If all our actions are pre-determined then morality doesn’t apply to us

11. Hypothetical Imperatives - Categorical Imperatives “If..,then you should…” Factual relation between a goal and how to achieve it Utilitarian “If you want maximum happiness you should not murder” “You should…” An obligation Kant “You should not murder” -morality has nothing to do with inclinations, personal gains or individual circumstances

12. The Categorical Imperative Categorical because it is unconditional Imperative because it is a command Categorical Imperative = Unconditional Command *Because we possess rational wills *Without considering the personal benefits Where in religion do you see ‘categorical imperatives’?

13. 1 st Maxim "Act only according to that maxim whereby you can - at the same time - will that it should become a universal law.“ Universalisability “do to others as you would have done to yourself” You should only do something if you would be prepared for everyone else to do it Some examples?

14. Another Short Interlude… Perfect vs. Imperfect duties Perfect vs. Imperfect duties Perfect duty = not to act in maxims that result in logical contradictions when we universalise them Perfect duty = not to act in maxims that result in logical contradictions when we universalise them (ie. “It’s ok to steal”) Imperfect duty = to act by maxims that we would want to be universalised Imperfect duty = to act by maxims that we would want to be universalised (somewhat dependent on subjective preferences)

15. 2 nd Maxim "Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, always at the same time as an end and never merely as a means to an end” You have a duty not to use people for your own end. If Hannah knew Angelina Jolie… Examples?

16. 3 rd (and final) Maxim "Therefore, every rational being must so act as if he were - through his maxim – always a legislating member in the universal kingdom of ends."

17. Some examples… Kant was always critical of the use of examples as ‘moral yardsticks’ – they tend to rely on feelings rather than reason However….. Deception, theft, suicide, laziness, charity, cruelty to animals

18. Synthetic A Priori We have free will We do not follow pre-determined laws We must determine a set of laws by which we will act Are these laws Analytic or Synthetic? A Priori or A Posteriori?

19. Last Short Interlude… Hume: Is/Ought problem Hume: Is/Ought problem You can’t jump from an ‘is’ to an ‘ought’ You can’t jump from an ‘is’ to an ‘ought’ You can’t jump from descriptive to prescriptive You can’t jump from descriptive to prescriptive Hume’s Fork Hume’s Fork Analytic-a priori- necessary Analytic-a priori- necessary Synthetic-a posteriori-contingent Synthetic-a posteriori-contingent

20. Bending Hume’s Fork…

21. A Brief Summary Deontology Absolutist/ Realist God and Free Will Categorical Imperative (unconditional command) Universalisability People as ends not means Synthetic A Priori

22. Useful Sources: Commentary http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant- moral/#CatHypImp http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant- moral/#CatHypImp Texts http://evans- experientialism.freewebspace.com/kant_grou ndwork_metaphysics_morals01.htm http://evans- experientialism.freewebspace.com/kant_grou ndwork_metaphysics_morals01.htm http://www.sparknotes.com/