LESSON 3 - ETHICS : DEONTOLOGICAL ETHICS

LESSON 3 - ETHICS : DEONTOLOGICAL ETHICS

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  CHAPTER III Deontological Ethics:Immanuel Kant Learning Outcomes At the end of this chapter, you should be able to: 1.recognize the meaning of deontological ethics; 2. explain the categorical imperative; 3. appreciate and articulate the role of duty in crafting an ethical life; and 4. apply the principle of the categorical imperative to moral dilemma.
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  The Quest forGuidance • Franz Kafka's "An Imperial Message" illustrates the human search for guidance and meaning. • A dying king sends a message, but it faces obstacles and distance, symbolizing the challenges of finding one's way. • The reader waits, hoping for guidance, reflecting our own quest for moral direction.
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  If early morningtomorrow you wake up so sure that there is no God, what would you do?
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  Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)proposed a viable human solution to this quandary. His philosophy views man as autonomous and most of him- or herself as not subject to external conditions, results, and mandates.
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  His philosophy viewsman as autonomous
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  If left tohim or herself, is it possible for the human person to be ethical? Immanuel Kant thinks so.
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  Kant's ethics areindependent of religion Kant's Ethics and Religion Ethics: Based on reason, not external authority Autonomy: self-legislated laws Focus on duty: categorical imperative Religion: • Not the foundation of morality • Morality leads to religion (pursuit of highest good) • Moral religion: based on reason and morality
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  "Two things fillthe mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe... the ember in the stars and the moral law within." Immanuel Kant's biography Born: April 22, 1724 Education: Friedrichskolleg and University of Konigsberg Career: Tutor, instructor, and full professor Died on February 12, 1804, with last words "Es ist gut" (It is Good)
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  Notable works List Kant'snotable writings, such as: • General Natural History and Theory of Heavens (1755) • Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785) • Critique of Practical Reason (1788) • Metaphysics of Morals (1797) • Religion within the Limits of Reason (1792/94)
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  Kant's Ethics • Foundation:Autonomous Reason • Source: Goodwill • Motivation: Duty Key Point: Ethics should be based on autonomous reason, not external authority. Autonomous Reason, Goodwill, and Duty
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  Kant's Ethics: • Manas an end in himself • Autonomous reason - Be accountable to other reasonable beings • Universalizable obligation - Treat others as ends in themselves
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  Kant's Ethics andReligion: • Ethics is independent of religion • Duty is motivated by reason and goodwill • Happiness is a gift, not a motivation for ethics Ethics and Hope: • Ethics leads to hope for happiness • Happiness is a gratuitous gift that one cannot give to oneself "Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end,"
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  Conclusion Kant's ethics providedfor a ground for legislating norms of rational behavior for autonomous persons. His ethical system emerged at a time when Western civilization sought a foundation for moral behavior that did not depend on faith or tradition. Kant provided that and in effect gave the justification and possibility for reason being the sole ground for determining the good.