Deontological Ethics

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

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Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

•  German philosopher.
•  Rationalist.
•  Authored Foundations for the Metaphysics
of Morals which is viewed as one of the
most important books written in the history
of ethics.
•  Viewed morality as a system of duties.

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 What makes an act right?
Two most common types of answers:
Type 1: Teleological: the rightness or
wrongness of an act is determined by its
consequences (i.e., the ends justify the
means).

Type 2: Deontological: the rightness or

wrongness of an act is determined by
certain moral features of the act (i.e., the
ends never justify the means).
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Are moral rules absolutes?

Consequentialist Response: No.

Deontological Response: Yes.

Kant believed that by reason alone we
could determine the rightness or
wrongness of an act.

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 Two Types of Imperatives
•  Hypothetical Imperative: declare an action to be
practically necessary as a means to the
attainment of something that one desires.
–  Formula: If you desire A, then do B.
•  E.g., If you desire to go to law school, you ought to sign up
for the LSAT.
•  E.g., If you want to be a better chess player, you ought to
study the games of Bobby Fischer.
•  Categorical Imperative: declare an action to be
necessary (without appealing to one’s desires).
–  Formula: Do B.
•  E.g., You ought not to lie. (Kant)

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Morality is Categorical
Hypothetical oughts depend on our desires.

Categorical oughts (according to Kant) depend on

reason alone.
Categorical oughts are:
i) Absolute
ii) Universally binding (i.e., all rational
agents have an obligation to follow
them (including rational humans, aliens
and God.)
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 Kant’s Theory
1.  Morality is necessary: it would be no less
binding were our desires to be different.
2.  Morality is a priori: it is knowable without
experience.
-Moral principle are grounded in
rationality.
3. Moral value is not instrumental value:
morality is good in itself.
4. The Good Will is good in itself.
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Kant on the Good Will

•  The Good Will: is acting from a good motive. It

requires acting out of a sense of moral duty.
•  Nothing else is good in itself, e.g., happiness is
not good in itself, it is only good if it is deserved.
•  Kant gave three formulations of the categorical
imperative, he took all three formulations to be
equivalent, but it is controversial whether or not
they actually are.

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 Kant’s First Formulation of the
Categorical Imperative
Categorical Imperative (CI): “Act only according to
that maxim by which you can at the same time
will that it would become a universal law.”
–  1st Formulation (Formula of Universal Law): An act is
morally right if and only if its maxim is universalizable.
•  Maxim: a general rule in accordance with which an agent
intends to act.
•  Kant uses ‘law’ to mean objective moral principle, or a maxim
that passes the test of universalizability.

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Universalizability Test
Maxim (M)

Second-order principle (CI) Rejected

maxims

First-order principle (accepted maxims)

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 The Test for Making a False Promise
Situation: Suppose I need some money and am
considering whether it would be moral to borrow money
from you and promise to repay it without ever intending
to do so.
Maxim (M): Whenever I need money, I should make a false
promise while borrowing the money.
Can I universalize the maxim of my act? By applying the
universalizability test to M, we get P:
Principle (P) Whenever anyone needs money, that person
should make a false promise while borrowing the money.
P is self-defeating! If P were made into a universal law no
one would take promises. So P fails the universalizability
test and thus immoral.

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Can we universalize the opposite maxim?

M1: Whenever I need money, I should make a sincere
promise while borrowing it.
Can I universalize this maxim?
P1: Whenever anyone needs money, that person should
make a sincere promise while borrowing it.
Yes, we can universalize M1 because there it is not self-
defeating. Thus making sincere promises is moral.
Kantian Distinction:
Perfect Duties: duties that are absolute and specific,
e.g., do not lie or do not break a promise.
Imperfect Duties: duties over which we have some
discretion, e.g., giving to charity or developing one’s own
talents.

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Problems with the Formula of Universal Law?
Might the formula of universal law generate results which condemn
harmless or even morally good maxims? What about these cases:
(1) I will read the newspaper over someone else’s shoulder, to cut
down on wasted paper.
(2) I will do my Christmas shopping early, so as to avoid the crowds.
On the other hand, might the formula of universal law fail to condemn
some maxims which are morally amiss? Consider the following
maxim, plausibly attributed to a Don Corleone figure:
(3) I will uphold a vendetta against a rival mob faction, so as to
protect the honor of my family.
-What would the Formula of Universal Law say about this
maxim?
What about trivial cases?
(4) Everyone should tie one's right shoe before one’s left shoe.

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Kant’s Second Formulation of the Categorical

Imperative
Categorical Imperative (CI): “So act as to use
humanity, both in your own person and in the
person of every other, always at the same time
as an end, never simply as a means.”
-2nd Formulation (Formula of Humanity): an act
is morally right if and only if the agent refrains
from treating any person merely as a means.
i) This means never treating someone as
an instrument to an end.
ii) It also means treating rational agents only
in ways in which they would consent to being
treated.
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 Problems with the Formula of
Humanity
1.  What about animals, children, and mentally deficient
agents?
2.  Because rationality comes in degrees doesn’t it follow
that we should respect people in degrees?
P1: Reason is an intrinsic good.
P2: The more we have of an intrinsically good thing,
the better.
C1: Therefore, those who have more reason than
others are intrinsically better.
3. What about conflicts? Suppose that a terminally ill
patient wants us to help her die.

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Kant’s Third Formulation of the Categorical

Imperative
Categorical Imperative (CI): “So act as if you
were always through your maxims a
lawmaking member in a universal kingdom
of ends.”
-3rd Formulation (Formula of the Kingdom
of Ends): This formulation evokes the
Principle of Autonomy: every rational
being is able to regard oneself as a maker
of universal law.

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