PHIL-P 140 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Immanuel Kant, Deontological Ethics, Age Of Enlightenment
Document Summary
He is one of the key figures of the european. Enlightenment and one of the most important thinkers in the history of western philosophy. We will just be concerned with the main ideas of kant"s ethical writings. So far we"ve just looked at teleological accounts. Kant will offer us a deontological moral theory. Remember what the deontologist claims: the question of what is the right thing to do is not answered by figuring out the best way to satisfy our goals/interests/desires. Rather, according to the deontologist, right actions are those that we are obligated or duty-bound to perform. On this view, it"s possible for the right course of action to be at odds with our goals/interests/desires. In other words, right actions are those that we should perform whether we feel like doing them or not. Similar to mill, kant will argue for a fundamental principle of morality. However, as you might guess, kant"s principle is different from mill"s.
