Max is a Kant

Kantian Ethics- Vardy

There is no limit to what we can know, human understanding is inevitably coloured by perspective.

What can we know?The critique of pure reason:Practical wisdom: knowledge based on experience, not all knowledge arises from sensory experience.Pure wisdom: Maths and Logic.'Thoughts without concepts are empty, intuitions without concepts are blind.'Humans are subjective, we do not know what it would be like to live objectively (seeing the universe as a whole). Our a priori conditions (space and time) and inescapable and alter everything we know. Humans are trapped in the phenomenal world. Neither practical, nor pure reason can take humans to the noumenal world (things as they truly are -ding an sich). The closest humans can get to the noumena is through judgement, however this cannot be communicated as language can only refer to shared experiences.

KANT PLATO AND ARISTOTLEKant's view of the world is essentially Platonic, reason is the best route to the truth that humans share, humans should be guided by reason rather than emotions/ instincts.

Four types of Knowledge:a priori: independent of sensory experience. Apply universally and necessarily. May or may not be consistent with experience.a posteriori: dependent on sense experience so it is limited and contingent. Scientific conclusions are a posteriori. Analytic: those whose predicates are contained in their subjects and add no new knowledge.  eg, 2+2=4. This does not tell us anything new, only explains the concept of '2','+','=' and '4'. All analytic judgements are known a priori, but not all a priori judgements are analytically true.Synthetic: those whose predicates are wholly distinct from their subjects, thus generally informative but require justification by reference to some outside principle. A proposition is synthetically true if it contains no logical contradiction. All a posteriori judgements are synthetic, but not all synthetic judgements are a posteriori.Analytic a posteriori judgements do not arise.Synthetic a posteriori judgements are everyday knowledge based on experience. (Cannot tell us anything about God or morality.)Analytic a priori judgements include logical truths. (cannot establish God or morality in this way.)Synthetic a priori judgements are only possible for providing new information that is necessarily true. Provides the basis for knowledge. Everything else is either uninformative or unjustifiable. It is independent of experience and necessarily true, but it provides new knowledge and is consistent with experience. Moral law is synthetic a priori.

Allen Wood:  many people see Kant's work in Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals as the only statment in Kantian ethics, they neglect to explore the more develeoped accounts in Critique of Pure Reason, or Metaphysics of Morals.The point of Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals was to awaken his contemporaries from their 'dogmatic slumber'. 

'Nothing can possibly be conceived in the world, or even out of it, which can be called 'good' without qualification, except the good will.'Inherently good, independent of what it produces, fostered by reason and is a dutiful (rational and free) action.'Does not need to be taught, so much as to be bought to light.'

A Good WillLIke Plato, Kant believed human nature exists on three levels:Universal Will (Wille):Human beings have the potential to be rational, reason enables them to appreciate the inherent value in human life and the imperative to develop 'a good will' and do their duty- even when doing so does not serve their immediate happiness. Only when they act on the basis of the Wille are they fully human and good.Free Character (Willkur):On a normal level, human care about others; relatives, friends, even countrymen. Humans are social and emotions, are made happy/sad by the situation of others and can act in ways that do not directly serve their own interests for sentiment. This gives them the potential to rise above social or biological ties/pragmatic concerns to care about humanity for its own sake and act on principle, adopting Wille as the basis for all their choices.Instincts (Bestimmung):On the most basic of levels, humans are animals, driven by the same mindless instincts to life; happiness and procreation. This is positive in that they are essential to make them appreciate life, which is the first step towards valuing their lie and the life of others. Nevertheless, to be driven by instincts is to fall short of the human potential to be rational and free. Doing things for pleasure takes humans further from true contentment- as it reduces their ability to make rational choices and achieve a good will.

Kant assumes Humans to be free, it is an integral part of being human, humans can chose to be selfish, or they can chose to be rational and respect all human life.Like Aquinas, Kant saw self-preservation and action for friends to be good, but not as the real or total good that humans should aspire. Like Plato, Kant saw rationality as the highest level of humanity and must be used to direct social, emotional, and animal natures if it is to be preserved. Like Aristotle, Kant saw a good person must fulfil their nature, the function of humans is in terms of rationality and freedom. (Kant believed that listing characteristics of fulfilled people serves to undermine freedom so makes people less likely to be good). Kant: the only virtue or good habit should be acting freely and rationally, everything else follows from that. Human nature is to be pathologically loving, rational beings must appreciate the equal value of humans, and make love practical. A person is fully human when they act out of duty because doing so is an imperative for any free and rational person, instead of because something is in it for them. Choices effect our character and in the end a person is judged on their character (assumes the universe to be fair).

FreedomIMPORTANCE OF CHOICE, not mindless rule following. Freedom is an essential part of being human. Becoming slaves to commandments is not to be fully human. In EVERY situation, humans should chose, again, to follow the demands of reason, instead of doing things out of habit- an instinctive act of kindness is not a good act as it is not based on reason.

DutyIn Greek, 'deontos' is the present participle of 'einas'- to be. Deontos- function of being, not always directly meaning 'duty'. A human who does not do their duty is less than human, falling short of what it is to be human. Pflicht (german)- our duty to fulfil our human nature, to be free and rational and to do what follows without regard to for the immediate consequences

Categorical Imperative: a single, rational moral principle that has three formulations. Kant never intended the principles to be used separately!The principle of universalisation: any rational person would 'always act so that the maxim of their action would become, through their will a universal law'. The principle of humanity as an end in itself: any rational person would 'always treat humanity, whether in the person of themselves or another, always as an end in themselves and never as a means to an end'. Human beings are 'ends in themselves' and can never be a means to some wider ends (REJECTS CONSEQUENTIALISM).The principle of a kingdom of ends: any rational person would 'always act as a law-making member of a kingdom of ends'.

A maxim is the basic principle underlying a moral action

EqualityAll human beings are intrinsically valuable (a priori knowledge). Value does not depend on age, sex, race, or ability (from Rousseau's 'Emile'). Equality demands that every person should realise that they are neither more nor less important than any other person. Nietzsche+ Singer dispute this: one cannot move from saying that moral status is bound up in rationality and freedom, to assigning equal moral status to anything with human  characteristics. (surely you are more valuable if you are moral). 

HappinessThe only way of justifying moral behaviour is with reference to some greater good (summum bonum) which will result from people deriving their own interests in the short term. Eternal life is a necessary postulate of a fair universe which makes up for the injustices that follow from good people being unrewarded and bas people seeming to be rewarded.

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