Kant and Right Theorists: Immanuel Kant'S Good Will and Categorical Imperative
Kant and Right Theorists: Immanuel Kant'S Good Will and Categorical Imperative
"All our knowledge begins with the senses, proceeds then to the understanding, and ends with
reason. There is nothing higher than reason."- Immanuel Kant
"Give every human being every right you claim for yourself."- Robert Ingersoll
Philosophy Tube (2016) explains the concept of Kant's theory of Good Will.
The Good Willis the will to do the right thing, whatever it is (Philosophy Tube,
2016).
Money, intelligence, fame, or reputation can be used for either good or bad. But
the will to do good is always good.
The Good Will focuses on the intention of the action rather than the consequence.
Thus, it is not motivated by the anticipation of reward nor punishment, otherwise,
the act cannot be a genuinely good action.
If one is doing what somebody else is tells her to do, then is can't be good. Good
will has to come from you.
For example, if you are only following orders from your parents, friends
or the authority, then it cannot be genuinely good. Kant also included religious
commandments in this example which is ironic because he came from a pious
family (The School of Life, 2015).
Religion vs Reason
Immanuel Kant tried to ground morality in logic or reason. He viewed reason as
a constant, in such a Mathematical sense, which religion fails to make universal in
the subject of morality. For instance, two plus two is equals to four, regardless whether
you are a Christian, a Buddhist, Muslim or an atheist. Whereas morality differs if it shall
be based on religion. This analogy was used to understand morality which to Kant
is supposed to be constant and universal. Although historical religions had all been
wrong in the content of what they believed according to Kant, he observed from his
parents that religion had latched onto a great need to promote ethical behavior
(Crash Course, 2016).
Most of the time, whether or not we ought to do something, is not really a moral
choice. Instead, it is just contingent on our desires (Philosophy Tube, 2016)
There are two imperatives:
Commands you should follow if you want something. Thus, your intention is
driven by external factors (reward or punishment). For example, if you
desire to get money, you ought to get a job. If you desire to get a high grade,
you ought to study.
These if - then statements are what we call hypothetical imperatives.
Prudence rather than morality If you don't want money, then don't work. If
you don't want an A, then studying become completely optional.
2. Categorical Imperative
This term first appeared in Kant's book called "Groundwork of the Metaphysics
of Morals", (The School of Life, 2015).
Commands you should follow all the time regardless of your desires and
circumstances. It's an imperative, an order that's applied categorically
(Philosophy Tube 2016).
Kant's moral philosophy really depends on free will. To him, freedom is not the
lack of government or being able to do whatever we want. Instead, we are only
free when we act in accordance with our own best nature (The School of
Life, 2015). "A free will and a will under moral laws are one and the same" - IK
Rights Theory
In law, Immanuel Kant proposed the principle of rights. He saw a distinctive correlation, yet
difference, between the intent of the law and the enforcement of law (De Guzman, 2017).
The principle of rights theory is the notion that in order for a society to be efficacious,
"government must approach the making and enforcement of laws within the right intentions in
respect to the end goals of the society that it governs. Members of society agree to give up
some freedoms for the protection enjoyed by organized society, but governments cannot
infringe upon the rights that citizens have been promised" ("Rights Theory," n.d.).
For Kant, governments were entrusted with the capacity to create laws by the citizens they
governed in exchange for protection. Thus, governments have no right to disrupt that trust by
making laws with cruel intent against the freedom that citizens had been promised (De
Guzman, 2017).
Protection of Freedom
Grounding all of our rights in freedom is important to Kant, because on Kant's account,
rights, by their very nature, are coercively enforceable. It is the essence of having a right that
you may legitimately use force to protect that to which you have the right, or the state
may do so on your behalf. That is how rights secure our freedom against the domination of
others. Kant believed that the protection of freedom is the only thing that justifies the use
of coercion, because the protection of freedom is the use of coercion against coercion itself.
According to Kant, people do not get to push each other around in the name of what one or
another of us, or the majority of us, or for that matter, even all of us, considers to be good. The
only thing that justifies us in preventing someone from acting as she chooses is that her action
is a hindrance to someone else's freedom (Perspektiven et al., 2012).
Definition of Rights
Some ethical theorists define the term "right" as "Justified claim that individuals and
groups can make upon other individuals or upon society; to have a right is to be in a position to
determine by one's choices, what others should do or need not do" ("Rights Based Ethics,n.d.).
Rights can be legal in nature, or pertain to human rights or moral rights.
Examples of Rights Based Ethics System include the following ("Rights Based Ethics," n.d.):
The philosopher John Locke is one of the main supporters of this system which takes the
viewpoint of what the ideal world looks like and generates a rights system based upon those
ideas. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights also upholds and manifests the values of a
Rights Based Ethical System (De Guzman, 2017).
References:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=942401
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-social-political/
De Guzman J.M., and Peña (2016). Culture in Moral Behavior. Ethics, Principles of Ethical Behavior in
Modern Society.
Dellomos, Carl., and Enriquez (2019). Moral Courage, Ethics,. Jimczyville Publication