PHIL 2135 Study Guide - Final Guide: Deontological Ethics, Normative Ethics, John Stuart Mill
Document Summary
Instead of being based on consequences, these rules or principles are derived from logic, from reasoning, or from the nature of human being as such. Immanuel kant = categorical imperative: 1st version: always act so that you can consistently will that the maxim of your action become a universal law. 2nd version (1st reformulation): an action is right only if the agent would be willing to be so treated if the position of the parties were reversed. The purpose of ethics is to develop the individual"s moral/ethical character, or virtues. So principles are not made by humans or governments, but discovered in nature. Original position as starting assumptions of his work: each person possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override. Therefore, in a just society the rights secured by justice are not subject to political bargaining or to the calculus of social interests.
