Ans) Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) established a metaphysics of morals based on the idea that rationality drives morality.
- His categorical imperative is still seen by many philosophers as a philosophically sound measure of discussing and establishing moral decisions.
- Immanuel Kant is still revered as one of the premier philosophers of the ages. His logical work on rationality and its relationship to moral imperatives has been referenced by philosophers for hundreds of years and still maintains a loyal following today.
- Kant was interested in establishing a metaphysics of morality that could be used independently from natural views of morality that implied human beings were merely slaves to instinct. The idea stemmed from a rational view of humanity and its ability to determine moral good and evil based solely on that rationality.
- Kant suggested a standard he called a categorical imperative (CI) based upon this rationality asserting that rational thought would inevitably lead to moral action.
Summary of Text:
- Kant's work began in the groundwork he set in the aptly titled
Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals. His logically planned out
vision helped to launch a philosophical journey that set the stage
for a new way of considering the moral construct.
- The groundwork is divided into three sections and begins with an explanation and development of the idea of working from simply and rationally considering morality, and then using this rational foundation to build the rest of his argument.
Section One:
- Kant begins with the idea that one must first establish a basic
understanding of how to think morally. He calls this common
rational moral cognition. From there, Kant works from this
established common understanding to one that is philosophical in
nature, which he calls philosophical moral cognition. This is a way
of looking at moral action based on three propositions:
- Something is moral only if it is done out of duty.
Good moral action is based on the principle and not the aim or
object of the action.
Moral actions must be done because of one's respect for the
law.
Section Two:
- In the second section, Kant takes the foundation laid in Section
One and expounds upon it. He works using these principles to move
away from the idea that humans are slaves to instinct and toward
the idea that there is a logical, metaphysical (outside of or above
the merely physical reality) morality that can be discovered
through reason and rationality.
- Kant's first criticism of the popular moral beliefs of his time is that it fails in the face of those who reject empirical morality, or a morality based on repeatable observation. He also states that basing a moral framework on a particular system, religious or otherwise, simply gets in the way of pure reason because you would have to prove why one system is superior to another.
- After showing the weaknesses of popular morality, Kant goes on to set up his argument for the metaphysics of morality. He begins with the assertion that moral decisions must be made solely based on reason because any moral decision based on anything other than reason (a preference or out of fear of punishment, for example) would not be made for objectively moral reasons.
- This leads to Kant's establishment of the categorical imperative (CI). This is the area of Kant's metaphysics of morals where duty plays a large role. Kant uses maxims, or general truths or principles, to guide his thoughts concerning duty-bound moral decision-making. He defines the CI as an act in accordance with that maxim that can at the same time make itself into a universal law. Thus, one must, under this line of reasoning, make decisions from a standpoint of pure objectivity and duty because it would be immoral to do otherwise, overturning the maxim itself.
Section Three:
- In the final section, Kant first attempts to draw together the
lines of reasoning by discussing the harmony or freedom and
morality. He makes the point that acting morally is the same as
freedom of action.
- Next, Kant establishes the understanding that a person who acts freely because she is constrained to live in a reality of freedom is actually free to act morally because she occupies that very reality. This is an attempt to remove a supposed contradiction of freedom.
summary and response Immenual Kant’s “Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals”
response and discussion on Immanuel Kant ”Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Moral” in your own words
write a response summary essay about Fiesta, 1980 reader point of view
Background This question asks you to take and defend a position in the debate between deontological and utilitarian moral systems, and in particular on the question of whether we should evaluate the morality of actions based on a standard of duty or one of welfare. Assignment In light of Kant's Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals and Mill's Utilitarianism, address the question of whether it would be better to base the ethical assessment of actions on a standard of 'duty'...
Summary the mental strain of making do with less by Sendhil Mullainathan. Response Essay 1015 word.
Please prepare an introduction, summary and response for 'Top Cancer Researcher Fails to Disclose Corporate Financial Ties in Major Research Journals.'
reader response summary 5 paragraphs short essay about with thesis statement in the first paragraph A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell
The Natural Response of an RL Circuit In summary, to find the time constant of an RL circuit, find the Thevenin equivalent resistance se Learning Goal: To analyze an RL circuit to determine the initial current through an inductor, the time constant, and the expression for the natural response of the inductor current, and to use the expression for the inductor current to find other circuit quantities, such as current, voltage, power, or energy. The natural response of an RL...
The next 7 questions concern the following summary data for a pinprick response study for which the population mean for withdrawing the hand in response to a pinprick is known to be H=250ms. The study examined eyeblink responses for patients at risk of developing Parkinson's Disease, and hypothesized that early Parkinson's Disease patients will exhibit longer response times, which, if true, would help with early diagnosis of the disease. n 30 EX 7638 EX2 1944904 20. What is the mean...
Summary of Fit RSquare 0.466146 RSquare Adjusted 0.455138 Root Mean Square Error 0.416758 Mean of Response 3.1882 Observations (Sum Wgts) 100 Analysis of Variance Source DF Sum of Square Mean Square F Ratio Model 2 14.718 7.35542 42.3488 Error 97 16.847 0.17369 Prob >F C. Total 99 31.558 0.001 Lack of Fit Source DF Sum of Square Mean Square F Ratio Lack of fit 84 16.0369 0.190916 3.0615 Pure Error 13 0.810683 0.062360 Prob>F 0.0140 Total Error 97 16.847 Max...
#1 - Please write a brief summary about the Hertiage article: Learning from Disaster: The Role of Federalism and the Importance of Grassroots Response. In your own words please don't copy and paste