Friday, February 13, 2015
I Kant Even
When it comes to Immanuel Kant's views on ethics, it seems to forever go around in a circle. My main question is if it ever stops and how is something morally the right thing to do and the morally wrong thing to do. If we take the in-class example into perspective and say you were in the situation of being able to save your friend from an ax-murderer. Does it really matter then if you lie trying to protect someone's life? What, if any truth does the potential killer deserve if you don't know who that person really was? Would it be the case if it were a stranger, and you were at the door and a stranger asked you politely to hide him from someone trying to kill them and then the killer came barging in, would you give up the stranger's hiding spot for the sake of being morally correct both times? If we link this to Aristotle's view on lying, or telling white lies, the guilt one would feel after having someone's -- a stranger's or a friend's-- life in your hands would be enormous. Going to a funeral and saying "I had a chance to keep him alive" would be the single factor that would haunt you for the rest of your life. Even lying I would think would tie back into the four examples of duty, being life preservation, and the welfare of others.
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I agree that Kant's views on ethics seem like a never ending circle. He does seem to say that you need to do the right thing, but if you do not know the outcomes, you cannot necessarily do the right thing. All you can do is try to be the good person in the moment, and I feel like that is what Kant says. Kant says that since you can never 100% know the consequences, you should never break the Categorical Imperative.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, as with the in class example, you have a conflict of interests. I do not believe Kant is saying that anyone or everyone put in that situation should lie in order to be considered moral and rational. I believe he would know that any rational person would want to protect another's life (which is the moral and right thing to do), however, that will not make all your subsequent actions moral. Logically, you can say that it is not good to lie even if you did it for a good reason. Just like it is still wrong to be late to class, even if you are helping out your sick neighbor (though I think your teacher would understand).
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