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Tuesday, May 4, 2021

Immanuel Kant: Categorical Imperatives (Final Blog post)

 Immanuel Kant: Categorical Imperative


    One might ask, who is Immanuel Kant and why is he important. Immanuel Kant is a famous German philosopher. He was known for his understanding in epistemology and his ideology on ethics. He was a turtor for nine years prior to him finishing college. After graduating, he worked as a professor for 15 years at the University of Koinsbergs before he was appointed as the chair of logic and metaphysics, which is the study of how reality and the universe came to exist. Kant kept his job as chairman until a couple if years before he died on February 12, 1804.

Categorical Imperatives

By definition categorical imperatives are "an unconditional obligation which is binding in all circumstances and is not dependednt on a person's inclination por purpose. This means that we as people are obligated to the right thing at all times no matter the circumstances. So, even in situations where you might be able to save someone's life with a lie, you are still obligated to tell the truth, no matter the consequences. 

Below are two videos to help your further understand what categorical imperatives are and where there originated from.



There are three types of categorical imperatives: Universalizability, The Formula of Humanity, and the Kingdom of Ends Formula. Every imperative has a designated quote from Immanuel Kant explaining what they mean to him. 

Univeralizability“Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.”- Immanuel Kant  

This imperative focuses on the value followed by the statement, "treat everyone how you want to be treated. " Kant believed that people should only act in ways that they would be comfortable with everyone else in the world doing. So, for example, if I was at Walmart and saw a t-shirt that I really wanted but I didn't have the money for, I might be compelled to steal it even though I know it's wrong. Although, I may be able to get away with it, Kant would implore me to think about the possibility of everyone in the store stealing what they couldn't afford or didn't want to buy. This would result in a shortage of items at the store which would ultimately have negative effects on everyone. It’s an argument stating that if you would not agree with everyone else in the world performing an act that you are doing then it is your moral obligation to refrain from taking part in that act. 

Here is a video explaing this concept.

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The Formula of Humanity: “Act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end, and never as a mere means.”
- Immanuel Kant

This imperative stems from Kant's ideology that, we as humans are autonomous meaning that we have the ability to self-govern and we should always respect others' right to autonomy. You should never fulfill your own desires at the expense of someone else. For example, if someone were to ask you for money because they didn’t have any food but instead of going to get food with the money that you gave them they went to buy magazines instead, this person has used deceit in order to obtain something that they wanted. The person being deceitful has taken away your right to autonomy. Kant believed that we have to respect humanity and respect people just because they are human. He would say that regardless of your job or how much money you have doesn’t lower or raise your value as a human or the way that you should be treated. 

This video goes further into detail on what is the Formula of Humanity.


The Kingdom of Ends Formula: 
“every rational being must act as if he were by his maxims at all times a lawgiving member of the universal kingdom of ends” - Immanuel Kant


The Kingdom of Ends formula is the idea that all good moral humans are working together to abide by the “universal law.” This means that as a collective we should all be working together cohesively to protect the autonomy of each other and in order to do so we must not act selfishly but selflessly.  


Summary: 

Kant’s categorical imperative is almost a fancy phrase for something that we have all been told or at least heard once in our lives which is to treat everyone how you want to be treated but in this case we must remain morally correct in all situations even if you feel that you are going against the “universal law” for good reason. Kant focuses on the principles of our actions more than the specific act itself. 


Sources: 
1. Johnson, Robert, and Adam Cureton. “Kant's Moral Philosophy.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 7 July 2016, plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-moral/#HumFor
2. The Kingdom of Endsmyweb.ecu.edu/mccartyr/GW/KingdomOfEnds.asp
3. Philosophy Vibes. YouTube. 6 Jan. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=284PIEhQ-Xg. 
4. gbisadler. “3rd Formulation of Categorical Imperative | Immanuel Kant, Groundwork | Philosophy Core Concepts.” YouTube, YouTube, 17 June 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDR4_51oX6Y. 
12 discussion post, mid-term presentation post, final blog post 







1 comment:

  1. "remain morally correct in all situations even if you feel that you are going against the “universal law”...

    Feeling or inclination, as opposed to rationally-derived duty, is indeed irrelevant to Kant in determining right action. But he wouldn't support violating "universal law," that's his point: obey the law, when it conflicts with feeling or inclination. Do your duty. Do the right (and lawful) thing. Period.

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