Research Paper on Immanuel Kant and the Categorical Imperative

Introduction

Kant remains one of the most contributors to the human ethical theory and part of the social Enlightenment movement. The aspect of a person's moral worth is that which makes an individual be a good person. It is important to note that human ethics in most cases should determine the behavior of a person in every aspect of life. The society expects individuals to behave in a rightful way and in the manner that is good. Kant believes that the categorical imperative determines a person's characters and behavior. The action of a person would always determine his moral actions (The-Philosophy.Com, para. 9). A person who is kind to other people has good morals, unlike a person who is unkind and unwelcoming to other people is said to be lacking morals.

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Kant Biography

Kant was born in the year 1724 and later died in the year in the year 1804 (Rohlf, para. 2) Kant is known to be the father and the founder of the moral ethics. Kant believed that it is a good thing for humans being to have ethics based on how they behave and what they say. He remains one of the greatest philosophers of all time. Kant ethical theory over a period played a fundamental role in shaping the philosophical views of the subsequent philosophers who came after him such as Descants. Some of the most common theories of Kant include the theory of freedom and the human categorical imperative. He believed that human moral laws in most cases are categorical imperative. Besides, all the available ethical duties are grounded. Kant believed that it was possible to come up with a consistent-moral system by the use and application of the moral reason.

Key Aspects behind Kant's Categorical Imperatives

The version of duty and ethics according to Kant relies on the categorical imperative. He believed that Categorical imperative should be the basis of all other ethical rules. It is a rule that seems to be true to everyone and all circumstances. The two main versions of the categorical imperative according to Kant are that every moral rule needs to be universalisable. Under the first rule, it is important that human behave well at all time and always be kind to other people that they meet or interact within their lives (Kant 4). Being a good person should be a self-decision without intimidation from anyone. It is important to act in such a way that other individuals can appreciate your actions and even emulate them in their daily activities. For instance, it will be good if one can understand that it is wrong to break a promise in life. People should work after fulfilling such a promise that they make. The ethical rule that a person applies in life should be valid at all time.

Moral Ethics should always have Respect to the Human Being

It is important that any claim by a human being to be ethical should always have respect for other people. An ethic that does not respect other people always is not moral. The action should be in such a way that other people can also see the good part of the deed (Kant 15). Kant believed that it is good to treat all human being in an equal manner by according him or her every form of respect that one deserves. Do to other people, as you would expect of them. Individuals are valuable and should not be treated in such a way to gain or get something in favor. Additionally, it will not be a good thing to be good or do well with other people while expecting a reward at the same time. The basic principle behind Kant's categorical imperative is that do to other people a good thing that you will expect of them at any time.

Kant Aspect of Moral Worth

The moral worth is that which makes another person good especially by behaving with some level of moral manners (Kant 32). A person can only exist in major tow categories of morals that are one can either behave in a morally upright manner or even to be a bad person. People are good or bad depending on their motivation to their actions. Motivation is the reason behind a specific action or the driving force to either doing good or doing badly. For instance, one can be good to other people mainly when motivated by morality.

The Application of Kant Categorical Imperative in the Current World

People have always tried to behave amorally. Being good and kind to other people in life should always be out of good intention and should be unconditional. For instance, one should know that it is an obligation to pay taxes. Besides, it should be from a self-made decision for someone to go to church and pray. It is all about doing a good thing and avoiding the bad ones. Morals help in creating a distinction between humans and animals (McKnight, para.4). Its only animals that have no morals yet human beings should have the accepted moral values that they should use in their lives to achieve all that they need to prosper.

The other application of morality is not to steal from other people or not to kill. Under normal circumstance, it is always wrong to steal from other people given that theft is punishable by the law. Besides, even in the Bible, it is stated categorically that killing is wrong, and there should be a clear guiding principle between human behaviors and those of the animals. The society expects people to behave in a given line that is about the provided ethical consideration. Defaulting to pay taxes, for example, is unacceptable and can attract punishment by the law. Morals are unconditional and should be treated as such whatever without pressure from any other person.

Lying

Through categorical imperative, Kant believed that human beings have no reason to tell lies. One should always tell the truth even if being truthful would cause harm. One should always maintain proper and positive life morals that distinguish them from animals. He believed that by telling lies, a person is much likely to enter into further problems and the consequences might as well be harmful (The-Philosophy.Com, para.15). The moment that a person told the truth and landed him or her in trouble, then the person should not regret given that he behaved in a manner that is morally acceptable. Many people have tried to exercise this principle by being good and avoiding lies even though; it seems not to be such as an easy decision. However, the critics of the Kant believes that they will rather lie to save a life for instance in the case of a driver who drives in the wrong lane to escape the coming accident.

Animals Ethics

Unlike animals, Kant believed that animals lack morals in their lives. He then expects human not to be like animals in whatsoever the way. According to Kant, animals are never rational, and it is not good to behave immorally towards such animals in any way. On the other hand, he believed that man has no duty toward the animals (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, para.7). He further believes that animals do not have moral ethics given that they cannot make moral judgments on matters that concern a person's ethical practices. On the contrary, he warns people off not to cause harm to animals given that, when people harm or treat animals in a harmful manner, then they might start to believe that even killing their fellows or causing harm to other people is a good thing which should not be the case.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the behaviors of human beings are always guided by moral principles. Doing well with other people in life should be unconditional. It is all about self-decision to doing that, which is right and socially acceptable in life. Unlike the animals, human should know that being good creates a peaceful co-existence with other people in various aspects. The categorical imperative is all about human morals that every individual should have in life. The behavior of a person should be in such a way that he treats humanity. Motivation plays a fundamental role in determining how best a person should behave or act.

Works Cited

Kant, Immanuel. Moral Law: Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. Routledge, 2013.

McKnight, Lisa. "Immanuel Kant and "The Categorical Imperative" for Dummies," 2016. Retrieved from https://owlcation.com/humanities/Immanuel-Kant-and-The-Categorical-Imperative

Rohlf, Michael. "Immanuel Kant," 2016. Retrieved from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant/

The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. "Categorical imperative," 2018. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/categorical-imperative

The-Philosophy.Com. "Kant And Categorical Imperative," 2018. Retrieved from https://www.the-philosophy.com/kant-categorical-imperative