KANT’S ETHICS

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

- A brilliant German thinker of great renown, laid the

foundations for his ethics in his short but influential
Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals.
- His ethical view is sometimes called deontologism for its
emphasis on duty or obligation.
- Other regard it as a form of intuitionism precisely because of
its claim that morality is exclusively within the human
personality;
- What is morally right or wrong is solely a matter of intent,
motive and will.
- Kant maintains that one acts morally if and only if one does
whatever one is obliged to do.

 Act done in accord with duty and act done from a sense of
duty

- The essence of morality is to be found in the motive from

which an act is done.
- The motive here refers to the duty that one ought to perform
– it is what makes the act morally good. In Kant’s view, a
person who does such an act is a person of good will.
- To be able to determine whether or not one acts from a sense
of duty in a particular situation, one must judge his action in
the light of how it would appear if it were to become a
universal precept or code of behavior. In other words, one
must test the act’s universalizability by means of the
categorical imperative, the kernel of Kant’s ethical theory.

 Categorical imperative

- Kant’s categorical imperative mandates an action without any

conditions whatsoever, and without regard to consequences
that such as action may yield.
- A categorical imperative is distinguished from a hypothetical
imperative, which is a command with a corresponding
condition or limitation.
- Kant says that a hypothetical imperative is concerned with
prudential action, which is performed from a sense of
prudence.
- Acting from a sense of duty entails an oughtness, an
obligation, that must be performed irrespective of the results,
at all times and in all places.
 Formulations of the categorical imperative

• This is Kant’s principle of justice, which has important

consequences for democracy.

1. “Act only on that maxim which you can at the same time will
to become a universal law”
- The maxim must be binding on everyone at all times
and in all places
2. “Always acts so as to treat humanity, either yourself or
others, as an end and never as only a means”

 Every individual must be counted as being of equal value.

 Rationally in Kant’s view, confers upon every person an
intrinsic worth and human dignity.
 All cases in which one acts inhumanity against another are
ways in which others are treated as only a means.

 Two types of duties

1. Perfect - is one which we must always observe, irrespective of

time and place or circumstances.
2. Imperfect - is one which we must observe only on some
occasions.

 Autonomous, self-regulating will

Autonomy
- means governing, regulating, restraining oneself, including
one’s own choices or courses of action, in accord with
moral principles which are one’s own and which are
binding on everyone.
• To respect an autonomous agent, therefore, is to recognize
one’s own considered value judgment, even if the latter is
believed to be mistaken or incorrect.
• Respecting autonomy is bound to his notion that
every person has worth and dignity, precisely because
persons are capable of making their own moral decisions.
• Not to respect an autonomous agent is either to
reject that person’s own judgment or to deny him the freedom
to choose and ct on that judgment.
 • Mutual respect for autonomy between persons in
moral relation is the basis of justice; its violation would be a
form of injustice.

 In the medical context

• In dealing with issues in medical practice and research,

Kant’s ethical principles are of far-reaching importance.

For Kant:

• First, it is always wrong to lie, no matter what the

consequences may be.
• Second, we must always treat people (including ourselves)
as ends and not only as means.
• Third, an action is right and legitimate insofar as it satisfies
the categorical imperative. Good results never make an
action morally right.
• Fourthly, Kant’s distinction between perfect and imperfect
duties suggests that some rights should be recognized.

 Difficulties

- Despite its being fruitful source of principles and ideas for

working out moral dilemmas of medical experimentation
and practices, Kant’s principles have no clear way of
resolving cases of conflicting duties.
- The second difficulty is that the categorical imperative fails
to establish duties in cases involving maxims that cannot
be willed to become a universal law for subjective reason.
- Kant’s ethics presents a problem in connection with the
notion that we have a duty to treat others as rational
beings or person. This problem is a serious one with regard
to the moral issue of abortion.
- Despite its shortcomings. However, Kant’s ethics captures
many of our intuitive perceptions about lying, treating
others with dignity, and acting benevolently. It also
determines our duties in particular situations (that is, the
categorical imperative)
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

of

Health Ethics

WRITTEN REPORT

on

KANT’S ETHICS

Submitted to:

Mrs. Grace V. Usodan, RN

Clinical Instructress

Submitted by:

Robina Anne A. Bebit

Jessa May C. Palay
AHSE – II

Aug 2, 2005
BS Nursing Department
HOLY TRINITY COLLGE