The dual (double) government-how two governments function-using Immanuel Kant’s duty ethics and the Social Contrast Theory.
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duty_ethics.pptxIn framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.
—James Madison
Ethical behavior is behavior that is intrinsically the right thing to do.
Ethical theory provides framework for:
(1) getting at the underlying rationale of moral arguments,
(2) classifying and understanding various arguments, and
(3) most importantly, defending a conclusion about what is right or wrong.
Immanuel Kant’s
Duty Ethics
Immanuel Kant 1724 - 1804
1788 Critique of Practical Reason
1797 Metaphysical Principles of Moral Philosophy
For Kant, the morally important thing is not consequences but the way rational beings think when they make choices.
Key Concepts in Kantian Ethics
Good will
The Principle of Universalization
The Ends of others
The Categorical Imperative
Duty
The Kingdom of Ends
Two features of Kant’s moral philosophy:
If the purpose of life were just to achieve happiness, then we would all seek pleasure and gratification and hope that it would lead to happiness. The problem is that happiness is not totally within our power to achieve; to a large extent, happiness is a matter of luck.
2. If we are to avoid nihilism and skepticism and our ethics is to work, it must be unconditional (no exceptions) and universal (applicable to all human beings).
According to Kant, only one [kind of] thing is inherently good, and that is the Goodwill.
The will:
Is found in humans but not nonhuman animals
It is the power of rational choice and its presence gives humans their inherent dignity
What makes the will good?
The will is good when it acts out of duty, not out of inclination. A good will is good without qualification (always good). A good will is good in itself, not just for what it produces.
What does it mean to act out of inclination?
To do something because it makes you feel good or because you hope to gain something from it.
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What does it mean to act out of duty?
Kant’s answer:
"Duty is the necessity to act out of reverence for the law.“
Human agents have subjective impulses—desires and inclinations that sometimes contradict the dictates of reason. So we experience the demand of reason as an obligation, a command that we act in a particular way, or an imperative.
Such imperatives may occur in either of two
distinct forms:
Hypothetical or Categorical
A hypothetical imperative conditionally demands performance of an action for the sake of some other end or purpose. It has the form:
"Do X in order to achieve Y."
A categorical imperative, on the other hand, unconditionally demands performance of an action for its own sake. It has the form:
"Do X."
The Categorical Imperative
Any rational being understands the categorical imperative to be:
"Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.“
Many regard this quote as perhaps one of the greatest statements in the history of moral philosophy.
That is, each individual (moral/rational) agent regards oneself as determining that everyone (including oneself) will always act according to the same general rule in the future.
This expression of the moral law, Kant maintained, provides a concrete, practical method for evaluating particular human actions of several distinct varieties.
Bringing everything together, Kant arrives at his "formula of autonomy," under which the decision to act according to a maxim is actually regarded as having made it a universal law.
Here the concern with human dignity is combined with the principle of universalizability to produce a conception of the moral law as self-legislated by each for all.
Or, as Kant puts it:
A rational being belongs to the kingdom of ends as a member when s/he legislates in it universal laws while also being him/herself subject to these laws. S/he belongs to it as sovereign, when as legislator s/he is himself subject to the will of no other.
A rational being must always regard himself/ herself as legislator in a kingdom of ends rendered possible by freedom of the will, whether as member or as sovereign.
"Always treat people as ends in themselves, never as means to an end.“
~ Kant
Autonomy of the Will
Autonomous will is entirely self-legislating:
All genuinely moral action flows from the freely chosen dictates of an autonomous will. So the possibility of morality presupposes that human agents have free will.
A rational agent must always regard itself as legislator in a kingdom of ends rendered possible by freedom of the will, whether as member or as sovereign.
Goodwill
Maxim
Universalize
Imperative – Hypothetical v Categorical
Autonomous/Sovereign agent
When it comes to moral behavior, most say:
Because you can, therefore you ought to.
But Kant turns this on its head and says:
Because you ought to, therefore you can.
When it comes to moral behavior, most say:
Because you can, therefore you ought to.
Examples:
You can help your neighbor, you ought to.
The law says you shouldn’t yell fire in a crowded theater/room, don’t.
You are expected to pay your taxes, you should.
Morally speaking, because you can, therefore you ought to or not to!
But Kant turns this on its head and says:
Because you ought to, therefore you can.
Examples:
You ought to help your neighbor, help.
When you make a promise, keep it.
The law says you shouldn’t yell fire in a crowded theater/room, don’t.
You ought to pay your taxes, do it.
Morally speaking, you ought to, therefore do it!
In other words, Kant argues that if we take ethics seriously,
then we ought to
obey the moral law
we have legislated onto ourselves as autonomous rational agents!
