Philosophy 2700F/G Lecture 9: Week-9
17 May 2018
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Week 9: March 13th, Tuesday
We postpone the search for the grounds of categorical imperatives, for now. Instead:
- It is still possible to say something about the nature of the imperative
- Examine the concept of the categorical imperative
- The categorical imperative is a patial la: a uoditioal oadet [that] does ot
leae it ope to the ill to do the opposite at its disetio :
Las ae uiesal ad eessa. Fo oes ai the to e a patial la, ust ofo to the
Categorical Imperative and be universal.
The asi idea is that: at as though the ai [the piiple of ou atios] of ou atio ee to
eoe ou ill a uiesal la of atue :
- It must apply to all rational beings
- It must apply regardless of the contingent aspects of the world
Deriving duties:
1. Duties to self:
a. Refrain from committing suicide (necessary)
b. Pefet oes o talets otiget/otoesial
2. Duties to others:
a. Refrain from making false promises (necessary)
b. Make others happy (contingent and indirect)
Perfect duties: the necessary duties to self and others
Imperfect duties: general and contingent (to self and to others)
- Thee is o disetio i ho oe dishages oes dut
- There is a latitude or discretion
It is og to take oes own life – the ai of oes atio ased o hih the deided to kill
theseles aot see as a uiesal la. I ake it piiple out of self-love to shorten my life if
its otiuae theates oe eil tha it poises adatage :.
- Self-love: that which promotes love; it cannot destroy it
- So any such maxim would be self-contradictory
*I disagree – he thinks people want to kill themselves because they love themselves enough to want
to prevent future suffering for themselves; he thinks people, by nature, are meant to love life. I
completely disagree – whether or not you love life, depends on your life itself (not predetermined by
ou atue; as fo the suiide… thee a e diffeet easos: People ould kill theseles eause
they value themselves enough to want to prevent future pain; or they might feel like killing
themselves because they hate themselves, their life, or feel that they are doing something good for
the world by dying.
Week 9: March 15th, Thursday
According to Kant, it is (without any exceptions) wrong to make false promises:
- Whe I eliee self shot of oe, I ill oo oe ad poise to pa it ak, ee
though I ko that this ill ee e doe :
- This maxim is not self-consistent: promising would be impossible were this a universal law
- Fo o oe ould eliee he as eig poised athig, ut ould laugh at a suh
utteae as hollo petese. :
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Document Summary
We postpone the search for the grounds of categorical imperatives, for now. It is still possible to say something about the nature of the imperative. The categorical imperative is a p(cid:396)a(cid:272)ti(cid:272)al la(cid:449): (cid:862)a(cid:374) u(cid:374)(cid:272)o(cid:374)ditio(cid:374)al (cid:272)o(cid:373)(cid:373)a(cid:374)d(cid:373)e(cid:374)t [that] does (cid:374)ot lea(cid:448)e it ope(cid:374) to the (cid:449)ill to do the opposite at its dis(cid:272)(cid:396)etio(cid:374)(cid:863) (cid:894)(cid:1008):(cid:1008)(cid:1006)(cid:1004)(cid:895) Fo(cid:396) o(cid:374)e(cid:859)s (cid:373)a(cid:454)i(cid:373) the(cid:374) to (cid:271)e a p(cid:396)a(cid:272)ti(cid:272)al la(cid:449), (cid:373)ust (cid:272)o(cid:374)fo(cid:396)(cid:373) to the. The (cid:271)asi(cid:272) idea is that: (cid:862)a(cid:272)t as though the (cid:373)a(cid:454)i(cid:373) [the p(cid:396)i(cid:374)(cid:272)iple of (cid:455)ou(cid:396) a(cid:272)tio(cid:374)s] of (cid:455)ou(cid:396) a(cid:272)tio(cid:374) (cid:449)e(cid:396)e to (cid:271)e(cid:272)o(cid:373)e (cid:271)(cid:455) (cid:455)ou (cid:449)ill a u(cid:374)i(cid:448)e(cid:396)sal la(cid:449) of (cid:374)atu(cid:396)e(cid:863) (cid:894)(cid:1008):(cid:1008)(cid:1006)(cid:1005)(cid:895) It must apply regardless of the contingent aspects of the world. Deriving duties: duties to self, refrain from committing suicide (necessary, pe(cid:396)fe(cid:272)t o(cid:374)e(cid:859)s o(cid:449)(cid:374) tale(cid:374)ts (cid:894)(cid:272)o(cid:374)ti(cid:374)ge(cid:374)t/(cid:272)o(cid:374)t(cid:396)o(cid:448)e(cid:396)sial(cid:895, duties to others, refrain from making false promises (necessary, make others happy (contingent and indirect) Perfect duties: the necessary duties to self and others. Imperfect duties: general and contingent (to self and to others)
