PHI-10 Lecture Notes - Lecture 32: Immanuel Kant, Consequentialism
Document Summary
Preliminary points about kant: immanuel kant (1724-1804, shortly before mill) - but kant is responding to mill type ideas: develops an alternative to consequentialist morality. Provide an argument against happiness as a basic value. Analyze what morally right actions really have in common. Argue for a different basic value besides happiness. The value of happiness depends on the presence of good will. If hitler is happy, his being happy makes the world worse. His happiness loses all value because of his evil will. The value of good will does not depend on happiness. His lack of happiness does not detract from good will. So: value of happiness depends on good will, but not vice versa. Kant concludes: moral theory should focus on good will, not happiness. So, to understand good will, we must focus on duty. To do this, we must examine cases where people act from duty. Good will duty acting from duty.
