Kant

 

 

The Good Will, in a nut shell, is you intentions being correlated with your actions. It is absolutely good, doesn’t depend on consequences, believes that everything has a function that the reason of the function is to produce a good will, and everything for the sake of duty alone. The motive of said duty, is not for self-interest but because it is morally good and done for the sake of duty alone. An example of performing a morally good duty is helping an elderly woman across the street. A person that will help her because it is morally good would perform the action regardless of the outcome whether she pays that person or gives him anything of any value. While a person who performs the duty because he knows that she usually pays those that her help her across the street did it because of self-interest. Not to be moral.

The two principles discussed in class this week were, the subjective and objective principles. A subjective principle is a principle upon which we do act while an objective principle is a principle of which we should act. For example. Arriving to a function on time is the objective principle but arriving late is the subjective principle. But there are some exceptions to the rule such as the categorical imperative. One categorical imperative states that you should act as you would want the moral world to act. An example used in class was showing up to class late because you had to call the ambulance for your elderly neighbor who is having a stroke. However, this is a maxim that we should NOT want everything to practice because then everyone would be late to every function that they are supposed to attend.

Although most people are never on time, including myself, that one imperative proves the statement made during the discussion about Plato that morality is only practiced because of enforced punishment. But what about lying? When is it morally right to lie? How far should a lie be taken until it becomes utterly wrong?