Lukoyanov

Daniil Lukoyanov
Mariella Colvin
PHILO 1000
25 April 2016
No, I Really Kant
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher who developed a modern
moral theory, which emphasizes absolute duties, motives, the dignity and
worth of persons, and a moral law that is absolute and unchanging
(Lawhead 470). He claimed that in choosing which path to follow, one must
always act from duty and not from inclination. He also claimed that there
was inherent value in acting out of good will, and that acting out of
spontaneous empathy, or any fleeting irrational response was not
intrinsically valuable. Finally, he claimed that people themselves have
internal worth that cannot be taken away from them. According to this logic,
Kant also emphasized the necessity of treating people as ends and not as
means to an end. The following points elaborate on these key principles of
Kantian thought and provide examples of their implementation.
One of Kants central points about morality is the conflict between acting
from duty and acting from inclination, and the necessity of acting from duty.
When Kant talks about our moral experience, he looks inward to find the
moral law and not outward to the consequences of our actions (Lawhead
470). Unlike utilitarian philosophers, Kant proposes that it is not the result of
the action that matters, but rather the intrinsic moral will behind the action.

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Kant was raised Christian, but his views on morality arent directly religious.
Furthermore, he actually felt that secular rational ethics and the best in
religious morality point in the same direction (Lawhead 470). This is
demonstrated best by his views on the commandment that says to love thy
neighbor as you love yourself. Kant claims that one should love ones
neighbor out of duty to love ones neighbor, and not out of the inclination
that one would feel better after loving ones neighbor.
According to Kant, Acting morally can be understood in terms of acting
rationally, whereas acting immorally can be considered as one species of
acting irrationally (Lawhead 470). The problem with acting on inclination is
that while feelings are fleeting, it is still always necessary to do the moral
thing. Kant insists that emotions cannot be the motive force in morality,
because sometimes the moral person must do things that he or she does not
really feel like doing (473). Acting in accordance with duty just means doing
what is expected from you regardless of your personal feelings, because your
personal feelings are conditional and will change. The moral code, however,
does not change, so it follows that actions done for the sake of the moral
code are also in accordance with duty. In contrast to the utilitarian view of
consequentialism, Kants deontological ethics theory claims that the
outcome of the action does not determine its moral value, and that an action
can be intrinsically good if performed for the right reasons. For example, if
you are a tutor, you charge the same amount of money per hour regardless
of the intelligence of your student is. You could have charged everybody a

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different amount, but it is expected that you treat everybody the same so
even though you could charge students who need extra help more, you
choose not to because it is just the right thing to do. Kant claims that this
deontological view is necessary because We can never be completely sure
of the consequences of our actions, so they cannot play a role in determining
our duty(483). We must simply try to act with good will. Kants view also
necessitates an absolute morality in that the moral rules must apply equally
to everybody for them to be of value. This principle does not allow
exceptions, which would come in the form of moral transgressions, for any
reason, even if the outcome would be better for society as a whole. This
again comes back to the Kantian idea that the action should be guided by
moral will, not by some inclination, because one can never be completely
sure of the way ones actions will actualize.
Kant also claims that actions motivated by spontaneous empathy are not
intrinsically valuable. This is logically consistent with his claim that the only
thing in the world that has absolute, unqualified moral value is a good will
(Lawhead 471). Good will is defined as acting from no motive other than the
motive of doing what is right (471), or acting out of an internal sense of
duty. Kant makes a distinction between simply having good intentions and
actual good will. He claims that good will means more than sincerely
thinking you are performing the right action, you must also correctly discern
what is your moral duty? (471). An example of this claim would be a student
who wants to be a veterinarian, who is volunteering at an animal shelter to

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get experience and to get into college. This student could choose to sit
behind a desk and file paperwork for the shelter, or he can actually get
involved with the work and help save the lives of animals. Its not just about
being there, its about putting in one hundred percent attitude and effort into
an action that is motivated by intrinsic good. On the topic of doing well for
others, Kant also claims that since we do not choose how we feel, the fact
That we happen to feel satisfied when we make others happy is a
pleasurable experience over which we have no control (475). Thus, actions
of spontaneous empathy that are based on inclination and not on duty arent
rational actions because they dont have a good maxim behind them. Ethics
has to do with choices and the motives behind making them. Therefore, the
decisions people make should be based on involuntary emotional reactions
if they are to really be ethical (475). To summarize Kants stance on which
actions are intrinsically valuable and which are not, Kant claims that an
action is only intrinsically valuable if it is done for the sake of the moral law
(476).
Kants second categorical imperative states that people are ends in
themselves, not simply a means to be used to get to an end. Kant also
provides steps one should take to avoid treating people as a means to an
end. Kant believes that Rational beings are designated persons because
their nature indicates that they are ends in themselves (Lawhead 480). This
means that they have intrinsic value without any will being enforced upon
them. In contrast, objects are not rational beings and they only have

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conditional value that depends on whether or not they are desired by

rational beings. The value of objects thus changes based on their desirability
at a given time. Kant claims that this should not be true for people. Thus,
because people and their wills are the sources of conditional value, they
must in turn have their own intrinsic value. Kant claims that because objects
of inclinations have only a conditional worth treating a person like the object
of inclination would deny their intrinsic worth (480).
In order to better understand Kants stance on treating others, it is first
important to understand that Kant believes that every person has a duty to
him or herself that should not be determined by external circumstances. For
example, Kant believes that it is every persons duty to better him or herself
instead of letting him or herself go to waste. Kant claims that every person
has intrinsic dignity that mandates each person to treat him or herself as
valuable. To further exemplify Kants stance on duty to oneself, he notes that
he does not approve of suicide, because that would mean treating yourself
as a means of achieving an end, instead of treating yourself as a person of
value. By committing suicide, one uses himself as a means of escaping some
pain or external condition that is temporary. Kant sees this as irrational
because it denies ones own intrinsic value. Kant claims that one should Act
as though the maxim of your action were by your will to become a universal
law of nature (Lawhead 478). This means one should act in such a way that
is according to the universal moral code. In other words, Kant believed in
living by and exercising the golden rule, Act so that you treat humanity,

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whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and

never as a means only (481).
Another way to Kant proposes to guide ones actions comes in his first
categorical imperative when he discusses the importance of testing ones
maxims for universifiability. A maxim is simply the principle that is used to
guide a particular action. If ones maxim is universifiable, that means it can
be applied to and used by everybody in a way that is acceptable. Thus, if the
principle guiding your action is unversifiable, then that action should be
moral. For example, if you are a teacher and your maxim is I am going to
treat all of my students equally, that is unverifiable to Always treat all
students equally. This is an example of a good maxim. In contrast, if you are
a teacher and you say I am going to give special treatment to only some
students, and you try to turn that into a universifiable maxim, you get
Always give special treatment to only some students (478). This is not a
moral way of acting. This logic can be used to analyze the maxim for any
action in order to determine whether or not it is moral.
Kants points on morality and ethics really elevate human beings as
capable of making decisions based on a moral code that they are endowed
with because of their intrinsic worth. Kant claims that as rational beings,
humans are ends in themselves and they should not be subject to being
treated as means to an end. This idealistic viewpoint is paired with guiding
principles about how to judge ones own maxims and how to act out of duty.
Kant emphasizes the fleeting and conditional nature of acting on inclination

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or for some expected result, and instead urges always acting based on the
moral code. Kant even discourages actions from spontaneous empathy on
the basis that actions should not be based on conditional situations. Overall,
Kantian morality and ethics provide an outline of reachable expectations for
all humans to follow. Although he wouldnt approve of this utilitarian
application, if everybody actually acted according to these principles, the
world would be a much better place.