Kant's ethical theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Kant's ethical theory - Essay Example Immanuel Kant is the founder of Critical Philosophy, and he is also the Father of Modern Philosophy. By applying the Critical Method to the study of Pure Reason, Practical Reason and Judgement, Kant endeavored himself to the knowledge of Man. His findings provide a wide spectrum of implications in order to establish the frameworks of Absolute Empiricism,Absolute Rationalism and Absolute Idealism In the realm of any ethical theory, there are some standpoints that can be taken, so an ethical system could be Deontological, Teleological, Consequentialist, Relativism/Subjectivism, and Virtue Based Theories. Kant’s ethical theory is purely based on duty, so it is deontological. The uniqueness and originality of his ethical theory springs from the application of the concept of Categorical Imperatives (unconditional) instead of Hypothetical Imperatives (condicional) as the philosophers before Kant used to build their ethical theories, especially in the case of Thomas Aquinas. The Cate gorical Imperatives demand to be universalizable in order to be accepted as valid guidelines for action. The concepts of autonomy and heteronomy along with the principle of treating human beings as ends in themselves, not as means, give rise to valid conclusions about respect for human dignity, freedom in every ethical choice, and the eventual state of peace that can be accomplished with such an ethical system. It lacks the presence of Unconditional Love as Kant tried by all means not to deal with the conflicts that arise out of building an ethical theory based on emotions. But Unconditional Love is much more than an emotion as it can be considered to be a Categorical Principle. 2. Defining how Kant distinguishes between autonomy and heteronomy. Autonomy is the freedom of choice without any external determination, and Kant established that it is necessary for a human act to be considered moral in itself. Heteronomy is the external determination of human acts (for example, God or a motivation based on any kind of reward or punishement) so heteronomy interferes with the freedom of choice of the individual taking away from the agent the capacity of using his/her reason as a whole human being according to the Law of Nature to act in a moral way. The implications of this standpoint about morality are summed up as follows: "If our actions are pre-determined and we merely bounce around like snooker-balls, we cannot be described as free and morality doesn't apply to us. Kant could not prove that we are free - rather, he presumed that we could act morally, and for this to be the case we must be free. He also thought that it followed that there must be a God and life after death, otherwise morality would make no sense." (RSRevision.Com, 2006). 3. Explaining Kant's formulation of the "categorical imperative." A categorical imperative is an unconditional motivation to act morally as a free agent. This concept is very useful from a practical viewpoint since actions guided by a categorical imperative are free from speculations or dogmatic interpretations. That way our actions are morally correct, and they are good in themselves since they are valid for everybody according to the universalization process explained by Kant. Those actions spring from the good will of man since the main motivation is a strong sense of duty. Some of the formulations of the categorical imperative are the following: "Act only on that maxim (intention) whereby at the same time you can will that it shall become a universal law" () "Always act to treat humanity, whether in yourself or in others, as an end in itself, never merely as a means." (Philosopher.Org, no date). 4. Explaining how adherence to the categorical imperative provides for autonomous ethical choice. Whenever we are faced with conflictive choices the categorical i