`           Kant and the Deontological Argument

Immanuel Kant was born in Konigsberg, East Prussia, 1724, and died in 1804 and so, was alive during much of the 18th Century. One of his most important pieces of work was the development of his own theory of ethics, which aimed to prove that ethics should be based on reason. That is why Kant’s theory is considered to be of a deontological nature.

        The historical context of the 18th Century is important when trying to realise why Kant came up with his particular ethical theory based on reason. This period of time is named the ‘Enlightenment Period’ during which there was increased recognition of the need for the development of an ethical theory based on reason, and reason alone. Kant was, to a great extent, influenced by German pietism i.e. the view that religion should be based on human experience rather than study or rational proof. He stands as part of the ‘European Enlightenment’, the movement that aimed to go beyond authority and superstition so as to deal with morality based solely on human reason.

In its basics, Kant’s moral theory is deontological, meaning it rests on the concept of duty or obligation (derived from the Greek word ‘ontos’ meaning duty/obligation). Kant argues we should handle our affairs through duty to the moral law.

        Kant starts off by arguing that reason is the primary source of knowledge. Therefore, Kant believes that any universal moral law must be based on reason and not on any supernatural or empirical evidence. He argues that every person has an innate sense of morality and so it is possible for people to use reason to work out universal moral laws that everyone can live by ‘Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration… the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me. I do not merely conjecture them and see them as obscured in darkness or in the transcendent region beyond my horizon: I see them before me. And I associate them directly with the consciousness of my own existence’ (Critique of Practical Reason, 1788). This is in stark contrast to Greek or Medieval ethics, which assumed that Good could be defined with some reference to the world around us. Kant believed that every human already knows what Good is and only a Good Will was needed to make an action morally right.

Kant wrote many books about his moral theory but the most comprehensive of all his arguments is ‘The Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals’ (1785). The start of this book outlines Kant’s view regarding the Good Will. Kant writes that he believes that only the motives of people’s actions can be called good. ‘Nothing can possibly be conceived in the world, or even out of it, which can be called good, without qualification, except a Good Will’ (p.9; the Fundamental Principles…). Kant then goes on to say that everything else is morally neutral. For example, a knife can be used for good or evil but a knife in itself is morally neutral. Only the human mind can make the knife work for good or evil. Kant then explains that however we decide to use the knife it must not be for reasons like increasing our reputation or to gain praise but because it makes sense to conform to a universal law, which asks us ‘would we want others to use the knife in the same way we are about to use it?’

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This concept about the Good Will can be explained using the example of the ‘Burning House’.

‘A man whose neighbours are due to come back home in a few hours after a long holiday, goes into his neighbours house and turns on the gas fire. This, he thinks, will make the house nice and warm for when his neighbours arrive. However, by the time his neighbours reach home, the gas fire has burnt the house down.

Kant argues that even though the man accidentally burnt the house down, his action was morally worthwhile because he did it out ...

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