Evaluate the claim that Kantian ethics is useful in decision making

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AS and A Level Religious Studies & Philosophy

Evaluate the claim that Kantian ethics is useful in decision making-

Kantian ethics=deontological (acts are intrinsically right or wrong) & absolutist (fixed universal standard of morality) theory used for laws day to day

Helpful method; takes the actions into account to judge if an act is right or wrong rather than just consequences

Kantian ethics stems from Immanuel Kant; opposed by utilitarian’s such as John Stewart Mill, Peter Singer

Here I argue about the deontologist viewpoint of this theory, the idea of good will, and the universal law principle.

Kant says Kantian ethics a deontologist theory which means that acts are intrinsically wrong or right so it doesn’t focus on the consequences.

Good; consequences my not have to be thought of when judging acts but focus on what should be done if it’s morally right or wrong (just based off the actions). Deontology is helpful; if not people are always going to have to consider multiple consequences; time-consuming, vague/ unreliable. E.g. torture; information may not be useful; it’s unknown BUT torture is intrinsically wrong itself so Kant would say no torture.

However, in a utilitarian viewpoint it is teleological viewpoint meaning unlike Kantian ethics it is based on consequences which make an act right or wrong, this is followed through by John Mill and Peter Singer.

This can be a better approach as an act that is morally wrong can lead to a definite consequence which morally right. An example is of an axe murderer, where a man knocks on your door to seek refuge and you let him then an axe murderer comes by and asks where the man is, you can lie and save the man’s life or tell the truth and the man dies, Kant here would say to tell the truth as the act is right and he focuses on the act, but a utilitarian would say to lie, which is the ...

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Kant’s viewpoint to judge an act due its actions can be good in some circumstances such as doing a right act for a consequence you are uncertain of like the torture example from before as you still do the morally right act for a consequence unknown to you, but in other situations it is not seen as helpful as with the axe murderer example even though you tell the truth it comes at the cost of a life.

So I believe in some instances Kantian ethics deontological view can be helpful for consequences you are unsure about, it is not helpful for when the circumstances are known.

Kant believes in the categorical imperative, an unbreakable moral law applied to every rational being, and this relies on the universal law principle, meaning that before a maxi can be made it needs to best if it can be applied to everyone to be a maxim, shown by “Act only on a maxim whereby which you can at the same time will that it become a universal law”. And these maxims should be followed as they are rationally right, and this is supported by him as it can be seen as rationally right as if everyone can follow this law then it can’t be morally wrong as then it can’t be universalized.

Kant believes that all maxims are rationally right, however not all maxims that cant be universalized are immoral, as some laws just cant apply to everyone not due to morality but due to other circumstances, an example could be a maxim being that I want to come in the top 50% of my class for results, this cant be universalized as not everyone is able to come in the top 50% so it doesn’t apply to everyone but this is not immoral but moral as It shows they want to achieve high and get top 50%.

Kantian ethics universalizable maxims are morally right as one of the main facts that it is universal, if there wasn’t the universal factor then a maxim which would be seen as morally wrong can be deemed as a maxim due to not having to be universalized, even though not all non-universalizable maxims are immoral, it is helpful that the maxim is universal.

I believe that the universal law principle is a helpful method towards Kantian ethics as it allows morally right maxims to be followed by everyone and nit have any morally wrong maxims.

Kant believes we should focus on intentions when making moral decisions and we should avoid using emotions for decisions, as these emotions can make our judgements void. There is only one pure motive for Kant as he thinks good will is the only pure motive and it is a purely good motive when done out of duty, as he says if it was out of an emotion there will be no sense of good morals behind it.

This can be seen as showing Kant that he wants people to be void of emotion and not act out of emotion and want people to not want to help people if they need it giving off a negative sense, as if there was father A who loved his child and read to him and played with him activities and helped him out of love, and there was father B who didn’t love his child but did the same as father A but out of a sense of duty, Kant would day Father B is more praise worthy even though he doesn’t love the child, which is dark as Kant is praising someone for not loving their child over someone who doesn’t love their child.

Goodwill in Kantian ethics being the only pure motive can be seen as Kant essentially wanting people not to care for each other and dislike everyone but help out of duty, if this was everyone then the world wouldn’t work as no one care for another and society will collapse, the essence of emotions needs to be there as with the father example the father who doesn’t love his child shouldn’t be praised over the father who does love their son as it essentially says that be a father to your son with no love or compassion.

Goodwill being the only pure motive isn’t helpful as it will change society if followed through.

Overall Kantian ethics has some aspects which can be seen as helpful such as the universal law principle as then everyone could follow a law that is morally right and to an extent the deontology view is helpful but Kantian ethics has aspects that aren’t helpful as the deontology view is not helpful for cases such as the axe murderer example, also goodwill being the only pure motive as emotions are needed in actions that are committed and beings cant be void of emotion. So I don’t believe that Kantian ethics is a helpful method for decision making.