PHIL 1010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Moral Agency, Seat Belt, Hypothetical Imperative
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10 Aug 2016
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Department
Course
Professor
October 2nd, 2014
Philosophy Seminar:
Kant & Mill
Key Terms From Kant:
• A priori knowledge ! you are born knowing without any kind of experience that you are a
self; what’s already in your head when you’re born
• A posteriori knowledge ! things you learn after you’re born; knowledge acquired after birth
• Categorical imperative ! there are things morally absolute; you may never lie, there will
never be a case where that is morally the right thing to do
• Hypothetical imperative ! every act is possibly okay under the right circumstances; no right
and wrong… wouldn’t exist; I can steal food if I’m starving
• Maxims ! think to yourself if it would be okay if you did an act without hurting other people, if
the answer is yes do it, if not don’t; always treat others as you would like to be treated
yourself; used to guide behaviour in a moral way ! how would I feel if everyone else did this
• Government needs to operate on these principles to be a legitimate force*
• Means to an end
o Instrumental value ! something you have or desire to have because you can
use it to get something else; valuable for what it can do for you – ex: money
o Unethical; never okay to treat people as a ‘means to an end’
• Ends in themselves
o Intrinsic value ! doing something for the thing itself, not for what it can get you
or do for you – ex: being in a relationship because it makes you happy
o Ethical; how people should be treated
• Law should be built on morality; natural law ! natural law exists – people naturally know right
from wrong
• You are your own moral agent – you decide what’s right or wrong for yourself
Key Terms From Mill / Utilitarianism:
• Bentham said that people are motivated to act in a way that increases pleasure and reduces
pain
• Right and wrong could be determined by the consequence of an act. If it promotes
happiness, it is good. If it promotes pain, it is bad
• Any action is neither good nor bad in itself, but only in its consequence. This rejects the
popular belief of the time, that G-d decided what acts were wrong, and the moral act was the
one closest to the will of G-d. it is a secular view
• Tyranny of the majority ! majority rules – it’s tyranny because the minority is always ignored;
for the greater good to hear everyone’s voice, not just the majority
• Social tyranny ! kind of tyranny that exists in peoples assumptions, stereotypes, and
discriminations; not governed by laws but it’s still there; just as damaging as unjust laws;
greater threat to an unjust society
• Legitimate authority ! laws put in place protecting society from yourself; prevents people and
yourself from getting hurt; – seat belt laws: if you get into a car crash without wearing a seat
belt then you could harm the people around you – don’t drink and drive laws: if you drink and
drive you could crash into another car and harm the other people on the road
• Descriptive claims !
• Normative claims !
Charter of Rights and Freedoms:
• Supreme Court ruled in favour of the woman being allowed to wear her vail in court to protect
herself and keep to her religious practices