PP217 Lecture 3: PP217 Lecture 3 - Deontology & Virtue Ethics Winter 2019
Document Summary
If you have reason, you are a full moral agent. Issue: those without reason (ie. children) are excluded. Objective moral law: kant thinks there is one overarching moral law, and that you can discern it by reason alone, he calls it the categorical imperative , categorical vs hypothetical imperatives. Issue: is contingent on the desires of the agent not universal. The case of lying why is lying immoral for kant: all rational agents are able to reflect on our actions. Is immoral for kant bc it cannot be universalized bc if everyone lied, then the institution of truth telling would fall apart: lying only works on a background of truth telling. Ie. promise to meet someone but you find a lost child along the way both important moral duties. Imagine you and your family are harbouring jews in your attic during the holocaust.