Immanuel Kant

&

The Categorical Imperative

Kant lived in a small town in East Prussia all of his life (1724 – 1804). He lived in a period called the Enlightenment – and his philosophy had a lot to do with his attempt to get away from authority & superstition and deal with human reason

·  Kant put forward an Ethical Theory called the Categorical Imperative, designed to help us to know how to act Ethically & Morally

·  Kant believed there were two Realms:

Noumenal – God/Angels – rational/moral / Phenomenal –animals –feelings/inclinations

·  Humans experience both rationality (noumenal) & desires (phenomenal)

In order to act MORALLY we must ignore our desires and act RATIONALLY

Q: HOW DO WE DO WE IGNORE OUR DESIRES & ACT RATIONALLY?

·  Kant said that a moral act is an act performed rationally out of a sense of DUTY – you do something because of its internal worth and not because of any consequences

E.g. Helping an old lady to cross the road.
Why would you help? Some might say because it will help the lady, others would say because it makes you feel better. These would be Teleological conclusions (i.e. thinking about the end or the consequences)
But Kant would disagree. He says in order for an act to be truly moral, it must be performed out of a sense of DUTY and not because of any end gain. So, why help the old lady? Because it is your DUTY and that is all. This is a DEONTOLOGICAL conclusion (concerned with the action itself and not the consequences).

·  Kant said that whilst we must do our DUTY we can only do it if we are actually able to do it – if we were unable to perform our DUTY then it actually isn’t our DUTY after all. What he actually said was:

‘OUGHT IMPLIES CAN’ – (If I ought to do it, then I can do it.)

NB – Kant believed that humans seek an ultimate end called SUMMUM BONUM – virtue & happiness united – for this to be achieved there must be more than one lifetime and therefore God must exist.
NB – Kant believed that moral statements are A PRIORI SYNTHETIC
(A priori = prior to experience / synthetic = testable through experience). This means that moral knowledge is gained by reason (A priori) but can be wrong (synthetic)

·  So, Kant argued that to be moral you must not follow your desires. Rather, you must do your DUTY. The highest form of good is GOOD WILL - to have good will is to do your DUTY

Ok, so I now know what I must do my DUTY if I am to do the right thing.

Q: BUT HOW DO I KNOW WHAT MY DUTY IS???

·  Kant tried not to over-complicate matters. He argued that there were only 3 rules that you had to follow in order to ensure you acted according to your DUTY and therefore MORALLY. These rules come under the heading of the CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE:

1)Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law
2)Act that you treat humanity…never merely as a means, but always at the same time as an end
3)Act as if you were through your maxim a law-making member of a kingdom of ends
A translation:
1) Only perform an (ethical) act if you would want everyone else to do the same
2) Do not use people or exploit them – treat them as ends in themselves
3) Act as if everyone were not using anyone else or exploiting them

·  Kant argued that IF you follow these 3 maxims and fulfil the CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE, then you will always do the right thing

NB – Kant’s CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE (CI) is in direct contrast with the HYPOTHETICAL IMPERATIVE (HI). The CI states that you should perform a certain act out of duty, regardless of the outcome. The HI is conditional –
‘I should do X if I want Y’ and does think of the outcome.