Thinking about Kant

Moral philosophy or ethics is one boring subject to read about. I sometimes wonder why I even bother to read about this stuff.  The theories are interesting enough, but when it comes to the exposition and the exemplification that’s when it gets sleepy. Anyway, I am interested in the work of Kant. Though I admit that I may not or, in reality, would not be able to understand his writings, I still try, maybe its because challenging. (I really tried but it’s is just too difficult to go through those jumbled words. Dr. Durant described Kant’s writing as “Jehovah speaking through clouds, but without the illumination of the lightning flash.”)

  

For Kant evil is a form of irrationality. When we do evil, our reasoning fails, or you are not just thinking straight. It is not about lack of knowledge or ignorance it is more of a failure in reasoning and not in acquiring information. Morality for Kant is not a question of knowledge but of the logical principles that ought to guide action. To be evil therefore, is to be motivated by principles of action that are illogical.

Another feature of Kant’s ethics is universality. Universality according to Kant is not just opposed to relativism but universality in the sense that it is also necessary. Kant wants ethics to be like mathematics. Whatever language you speak, whatever atmosphere you breathe, the principles of ethics for all the possible worlds are the same. Its like mathematics where all the mathematical statements like 2+2=4 is a self evident truth that cannot be changed wherever, whenever and in all possible worlds. 

Kant’s Categorical imperative.

The Categorical imperative is the supreme command or overrding command, from which all lesser commands follow. This is part of his view of the universalization of ethics: “Act that the maxim of thy action could thy will be a universal law.” This is Kant’s greatest contribution to moral philosophy that we should act according to the principles. When we act, we do not think of kindness, wrongness based on emotions and how it feels but based on logical principles. If you are kind simply because you are a kind person, and act naturally without thinking about whether it is morally right or not, you are not acting in an especially moral way, he claims. To be moral, you must set yourself the principle, “I should be kind,” and act kindly because you want to act in accord with correct principles.

He calls this acting from duty.

Reading about hypothetical imperative…if I could figure it out :-)