Andrew Willard

Philosophy 102
08/15/13

Final Exam
If I were to have a discussion with a friend regarding morality and what the class
explains, I would tell them there are many different views on morality and it would depend on
which philosopher they were most interested in learning about. I would start by discussing the
two we learned most about in class, Kant and Nietzsche.
When discussing the issue of ethics, morality is naturally assumed or included into the
discussion. Since Metaethics is branch of philosophy which studies the foundation and range of
morality, it is necessary to look into the morality issue when applying Metaethics to a study. One
only has to look at the daily news to see where ethics and morality go hand in hand. Individuals
in leadership, who have no ethics, often conduct immoral acts whether of a sexual nature or of
greed.
First starting with Kant, who believes we must use a priori, meaning knowledge or
justification is independent of an experience, reasoning to discover the ideal forms of what
should be. Nietzsche on the other hand preferred a different way of looking at morality,
metaethical inquiry.
Kant tries to establish morality from a purely a priori position and really wanted to stay
away from posteriori influences. He also wanted to show how moral law played a very important
role in laying the ground work for morality and pushed the pure will through, pure practical
reasoning in his beliefs and lastly an understanding of ones self-contained morality.
Kant also relies heavily on assumptions and what and then uses those assumptions to
show how they are tied to morality. Kant also uses words like Categorical Imperative and says
this is a fundamental principle of morality in his opinion. Morality comes from experiences in
which people go through during their lives and I would say after an individual experience, their
moral make up may change because we establish morality through experience, which completely
geos against what Kant is trying to teach. Finally when it comes to Kant, we must learn to
respect moral law and act on our duty when it comes to moral law.
Nietzsche on the other hand does something that Kant does not; he introduces us to three
phases of moral history: Noble Morality, Slave Morality and Ubermensch Morality. Noble
Morality, taught a person to train their mind to think rationally. Slave Morality was and is the
dominant reality that we in the western world have adopted as our own. Finally Ubermensch
Morality, which is kind of a combination of the first two phases of morality and how they play
out is completely out of our control.
Nietzsches critique of morals in his book, Genealogy of Morals, addresses, in his
opinion, the foundation and range of morality and finds it harmful. Nietzsche discusses human
origin and development, the perverse nature of the human animal, and how civilization can
shape a human man into a demoralizing creature. Nietzsche also has the ability to tear apart the
very moral foundation of mankind bringing everything man is taught regarding morality into
question. These types of writings are important to read when learning about morality and ethics
but should not be considered as absolute truth; merely an opinion. Nietzsches comments do
provide good fuel for discussion and further research which should be a desired outcome for
anyone taking an ethics class.
I would end by telling a friend of mine that they need to approach this type of class with a
very open mind and be prepared to examine things you wouldnt really consider on a daily basis
but you do all the time. This class and its teachings also have be understood that they are an
individuals opinion on how they see the world. Because they wrote a book or two and are
known around the world as great philosophers, it is again only their opinion.