David Underhill – 27 Sept to 01 Oct 04
(Week 6) – P.159-181; Case Study p.3-6
Kantian
Ethics and the Basis of Duty (159)
- Kant – German
philosopher; his published works is generally very dense and hard to
comprehend
- His notes for students
and public essays are much easier to grasp
- Believed moral and
mathematical reasoning were similar
- “The starry heavens
above, the Moral Law within.”
- We can discover the
secrets of nature which allows us to devise rules and most importantly
allows us to choose to follow the rules
- Explores this in Groundwork
of the Metaphysics of Morals
- Believed a
revolutionary thought was needed to understand our morals from the
external world so we could judge them
- Believed human reason
was not passive but active in developing our understanding of the world
- Reason is used to
determine how we react to desires, and so is associated with morality
- Two desires – to
fulfill duty or individual desires
- Those who fulfill duty
are moral
- His hometown was
completely leveled in WWII and then rebuilt by Soviets and used as their
nuclear submarine HQ
Groundwork
of the Metaphysic of Morals (165)
- Actions must conform
with duty to be considered moral
- Even if actions conform
with duty, an individual is not necessarily moral – depends on their
motivation
- Only moral if it is
done “for the sake of duty”
- An individual must choose
to have a duty and then perform it
- Formula of Autonomy –
to be free, an individual must act on their own, not due to incentives
- Three forms of the
categorical imperative
- Formula of Universal
Law – an individual must act on universal obligations prior to personal
desires
- Individuals should
not exempt themselves from rules which apply to all
- Formula of Humanity as
an End Itself – don’t use people for your own ends
- Kingdom of Ends – act like everyone
is a lawgiver and citizen in the moral community
- Ex: lying is bad
because it prevents other from having all the available information which
they can use in order to determine, through Reason, what is right
- Must not only not lie,
but must tell the truth
- You should not hurt a
person in a burning car, but you must take action to help them
- Inaction can be
immoral too
- Justifies military
intervention for humanitarian reasons
- The Reasonable ordering
of desire and practical experience in our world results in duty (the laws
of morality)
A
Simplified Account of Kant’s Ethics (O’Neill) (177)
- Author intends to
simplify Kant by only presenting the Formula of the End and comparing it
to utilitarianism
- Each of our acts
reflects a maxim (the principle on which one acts)
- Whenever we act
intentionally, it is due to a maxim we hold
- Using someone as a
means is an action that they could not consent to in principle
- Done through
manipulation (not sharing all the facts) or coercion
- Kantians compare only
the acts which have been proposed – don’t try to consider every possible
act
- If an act is required
to fulfill duty, it is obligatory
- As long as the act is
just, it is moral – it does not have to be the best act possible
- Limits of Kantian
Ethics: Intentions and Results
- Utilitarianism has an
unlimited scope but its precision is limited by how much information is
available
- Smaller scope – only
assesses intentional acts and can only apply to individuals as well as
groups with policies/rules
- Kant’s ethics also
focuses on maxims rather than results
- Respect for Life
- Kant: people are not
ends and so their lives have a high value
- This does not mean
they will preserve it though – Kant acts can be just and reasonable while
not providing the best healthcare … also, individuals may take pains in
order to not use others, making society an unhappy place
- Utilitarianism does
not value human life specifically; it needs it, but allows for it to be
lost for the greater good
Leave
No One Behind (Capt Rubel) (3)
- CDR Davis is in charge
of a helo rescue squadron
- A man goes overboard in
almost zero visibility, 45kt winds, and 25ft swells
- The rescue helo is sent
but is taken down
- Should CDR Davis send a
second helo or cut losses?