Term Paper on "Kant's Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals"

Term Paper 3 pages (1399 words) Sources: 1

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Kant's Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals perennial question in moral philosophy concerns human justification of moral principles. Traditionally, the debate is bifurcated into two distinct groups: rationalists who, for the most part, believe that morality is founded on reason alone, and empiricists who seek to ground moral judgments on human experience. One of the towering figures in this debate is Immanuel Kant, who thought that moral principles should not be informed by a posteriori experiences, but rather should be deduced through reason, and therefore can be known a priori. Beginning with his preface to the Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, Kant is unambiguously clear in his assertion that moral dictates hold universally, since if a law is to be morally valid, then it must carry with it absolute necessity (cf. Grounding 4:389); i.e., all moral dictates are valid for rational creatures regardless of situation or circumstance. Therefore, when confronted with two conflicting moral judgments, only one can be correct, as morality is not experientially contingent. The magnitude of Kant's claim is clear, as it states that there is one correct standard by which all moral principles can be judged. It seems as though strict adherence to Kantian morality is undesirable, as pure reason can only inform certain aspects of moral life. Acknowledgement that certain emotions and other experiential elements invariably factor into our moral calculus provides a more robust picture of morality, and this is something that Kant's moral system cannot supply.

For Kant, morality is fundamentally based on his three formulations of the categorical imperative. Essentially, the first formulation states that one should act as though one's maxim could become a universal law (of nature). This is due to the fact that when a person's maxim cannot be universalized, then it necessarily is discordant with morality, as the person will encounter an inherent contradiction. To borrow one of Kant's examples, when trying to secure a loan, one cannot falsely promise that the loan will be repaid, since upon universalizing that maxim, one would be stating that it is acceptable to make false promises, and further, that it become a universal law of nature. If that were the case, then all acts that require a basis of trust essentially lose their foundation. People would not, then, "believe what was promised him but would merely laugh at all such utterances as being vain pretenses" (Grounding 4:422). Therefore, it is never permissible to lie in order to secure some good, no matter if it is for personal welfare, or for the welfare of others, since that maxim can never be regarded as a universal law.

The second formulation of the categorical imperative states that one should treat humanity as an end and never merely as a means. It is in this sense that the moral worth of individuals is given intrinsic value. Upon recognizing one's duty to humanity, one realizes that every action must take into the account the inherent value of particular others: "Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of another, always at the same time as an end and never simply as a means" (Grounding 4:429). That is, it is not acceptable to use people as a means to your end. For example, if one donates money to the poor in order to impress one's friends, then this action has no moral worth, since the supposed philanthropist is using the poor as a means to inflate his own self-image.

The third and final formulation of the categorical imperative states that one should act so that one can regard one's will as a lawmaking member of a Kingdom of Ends. There is a distinction made here between autonomy and heteronomy. Essentially, in this ideal Kingdom of Ends, every individual member acts as the governing body, and is not subject to any external force. There is no sense of structure, nor any centralized government or sole individual that rules over everyone else. In this ideal society, everyone would act in accordance with the moral law and never encounter a situation that would contradict those laws. It would seem that this society could never be realized due to… READ MORE

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