LAWLzoR

Lets Talk About Kant

Rate this Entry
Immaneul Kant was a German/Prussian philosopher during the 18th century. He lived from April 22, 1724 to February 12, 1804 at the old age of 79. Some of his most famous works include what's "real" and his maxims on morals, and we'll be discussing about his maxims now. Some of his maxims aren't quite what we would agree to. Just as a side note, most of the philosophies of what's "right" in society derives mainly from Jeremy Bentham.

His first maxim (or formula) is basically "universality". If you do an action in response to a stimulus, then whatever that action is, it should be allowed by everyone within the same situation. As an example, you're talking to your friend about whether or not you like the person they like too. As to not hurt their feelings, you might say "no". However, this conflicts with "universality" because by saying "no" to the question, you are allowing everyone to lie to their friends as to not hurt their feelings, or any other "similar" situation. All actions must have universality in order to be considered moral.

His second maxim (or formula) is quite possible the most opposite we have today in most of society: the ends do not justify the means. Treat everyone you interact with as an end rather than a means to an end. Meaning you may not manipulate or in any other way deceive them in order for you to gain in some way. For example (this is an example used by and against Kant by the way. Similar to, that is) if an axe murderer were to come up to your door and politely ask where your family is so they may chop them up and kill them, you are NOT allowed to lie to him. Kant saw nothing wrong with this, as we are all our own moral agent, and that we couldn't mix our business with another moral agent/person. It's also not against any maxim to just lock the door and protect yourself from the murderer anyway, so you could still act morally.

His third maxim (or formula) says that we may not think selfishly. It states that we should see and treat our actions as a consequence to others and not just to ourselves, and that when doing an action we should take other beings into consideration when performing said action. For example, if you wanted to eat the last piece of cake in your house without asking to split it or if anyone else wanted it, it would be immoral, because you didn't take into consideration of the other people and the consequence of your action upon them.

Kant's philosophy on morals are perhaps the most interesting to us because some of them conflict with our morals today. Such as the treating others as an end rather than a means, and treating our actions with universality. This is also probably why a majority of people wouldn't agree with these morals and point more towards Bentham's philosophy of morals (which basically states that whatever causes the most amount of pleasure from all persons involved is the most moral or just moral action). This is all regarding that there are more than one way to think oneself as moral. This is simply Kant's philosophy of being moral to others.
Categories
Uncategorized

Comments

  1. Rocket's Avatar
    I Kant understand what you're saying
  2. Lancer's Avatar
    god dammit rocket puns are my job /banned
  3. LAWLzoR's Avatar
    Actually, the name (if properly pronounced) sounds similar to something CoD fans call each other when they're angry. It also starts with a "c". *gets shot by all CoD fans on the forum*
  4. Moonjik's Avatar
    I want to lick your Kant.
  5. Poles's Avatar
    "Screw you, you big black Kant."
  6. LAWLzoR's Avatar
    I'd also like your opinions on my lessons, and possible suggestions for future ones
  7. Moonjik's Avatar
    What about the best philosopher of modern times; Jayden Smith?
  8. LAWLzoR's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Sakura
    What about the best philosopher of modern times; Jayden Smith?
    I swear I will not even touch his philosophy with fifty-foot tweezers. I've seen it before, and it's just... eww.
  9. Samos's Avatar


    Seriously though, this blog is really well written and interesting. Keep these up.