Kantian Ethics and Rationality: Strengths, Weaknesses, and Moral Philosophy

Kantian Ethics and Rationality

Kantian Ethics Suffers From Its Adherence to Rationality

The different ethical domains and frameworks shape the social landscape. It is important to be cognizant of the established ethical frameworks as they are used to judge and argue for both moral and non-moral qualities. To discuss Kantian ethics, a framework that appeals to rationality, examining how this philosophy’s reasoning process views emotion is necessary. Additionally, to understand the importance of rationality in Kantian ethics, it is important to pay attention to the idea that, according to Kant, rationality and emotion are not mutually exclusive but rather that they co-exist. Hence, this paper seeks to affirm the concept that “Kantian ethics suffers from its adherence to rationality.”

Deontology Approach

The deontology approach focuses on duties, which are duties imposed on an individual by the framework of a government or any administrative body [3]. Examples of deontology concerns include authority, duty and justice, framed by the state or a nation.

Background of Kantian ethics

Kantian ethics is a term used to refer to the ethical framework that German philosopher Immanuel Kant developed. This philosophy has been subjected to much criticism, especially from the perspective of ethics, since it does not justify its beliefs [6]. Moreover, Kant’s notion of the universal law, the foundation of this theory, is difficult to ascertain as each individual has their own interpretation [3] [6]. At the same time, they also have their own characterization and portrayal of what they think it should be. Further, in an empirical view, the rules of Kantian ethics have to be logically and practically applicable to be considered a valid ethical framework. Hence, this approach has been subjected to harsh criticism due to its inability to apply or explain its beliefs or values easily.

Stance of Kantian ethics

The ethical framework that Kant has been associated with is known as the categorical imperative. This approach provides a framework for individuals to use when deciding how to act in their daily lives, that is, whenever they decide whether it is right for them to do something or not. In his work, “The Metaphysics of Morals”, Kant defines ethics: “The doctrine of morals is based on reason and serves as the only guide for all our actions. It is, therefore, not just a doctrine of reason, but the sole and universal moral law” [3].

Principles of Kantian ethics

One of the primary components of Kantian ethics is that the will to undertake a step is motivated by duty. It is important to consider that the will is an essential feature in this type of ethics as it refers to the basis on which an individual decides to do something [5]. This implies that there is a legalistic perspective that acts and guides one’s actions, which is what Kant’s ethical framework revolves around [3]. Moreover, the will must be characterized by a good intention which means that the determination of good or bad intentions should reflect what Kant would have believed was morally right and not a utilitarian value.

According to the second principle, an individual’s will should always be driven by moral law. The statement implies that any action and decision not governed by moral law should not be entertained or pursued [5]. This is because, in Kant’s ethical framework, it is required for an individual to adhere to the moral law. Kant states: “categorical imperative will then be that principle which expresses a purely practical reason and which can have as its formula: act in accordance with a maxim of ends which, given your position in the world of sense, you can regard as a universal law” [2]. Hence, the moral law that Kant is referring to is universal law.

“Kantian ethics suffers from its adherence to rationality.”

The statement can be considered as factual because Kantian ethics is built on the foundation of rationality. This perspective requires that all actions, decisions, and decisions are rationally motivated. Kantian ethics also requires that an individual’s actions are only permissible if it does not interfere with the freedom of others [4]. However, according to Kant’s ethical perspective, any action contrary to duty is considered morally wrong [2]. This implies that anything that is not rationally motivated will be deemed wrong. This perspective lacks flexibility and fails to address acts that are not based on reason. Moreover, another observation is that Kantian ethics has no foundations in any other ethical framework or approach. This means that Kantian ethics has no experience or foundation on which it stands.

Rationality of Kantian and moral philosophy

The prospect that Kantian ethical framework is built on the foundation of rationality is coherent and makes sense [7]. The idea that all actions, decisions, and decisions are rationally motivated is also logical because it is consistent with the notion that reason rather than emotions or thoughts should guide individuals [2]. Further, it emphasizes that an action must be good in itself, which means that it reflects the nature of a person instead of being motivated by other factors, such as self-interest.

Weaknesses of Kantian ethics

One of the major weaknesses of Kantian ethics is that the framework lacks flexibility, and it does not differentiate between the good and bad intentions. Moreover, this implies that any action that is deemed morally wrong will be based on one’s knowledge or understanding of moral values. This suggests that no matter how good one thinks their intentions are, they still fail to meet a certain standard. The statement also implies that one must always follow the supreme rule, duty or law, which does not allow for moral relativism.

Strengths of Kantian ethics

Primarily, Kantian ethics are ethical values that are applicable in any situation. The framework ensures that the intention of any action or decision is based on morality [2] [4]. This means that the decisions or actions are not motivated by self-interest but rather by what is morally right and just. Additionally, Kantian ethics emphasizes that an action must be good in itself, which means that it reflects the nature of a person instead of being motivated by other factors, such as self-interest.

Another strength of Kantian ethics is that it emphasizes the notion of duty or law, and one must always follow the supreme rule, which is duty or law. The framework also states that actions are only permissible if it does not interfere with the freedom of others [9]. The idea that actions should be based on morality and include a character trait such as pride, vanity, and self-interest have been the core of several other philosophical approaches, such as consequentialism.

Conclusion

Indeed, “Kantian ethics suffers from its adherence to rationality”, which is because it lacks flexibility and fails to consider the context of the situation in which one finds themselves. This means that a particular situation may require one to make decisions contrary to duty. Moreover, this implies that an individual has to weigh the consequences and think about what is best for everyone in making decisions. One of the strengths of Kantian ethics is that they are applicable in any situation, but the framework does lack flexibility. In contrast, all individuals have common sense morality based on duty or moral law, not self-interest.

References

[1] Farris, J. (2022). The Moral of the Story in Kant’s Philosophy of Religion. Ephemeris, the Undergraduate Journal of Philosophy, 22(1), 5.

[2] Hooker, J. N., & Kim, T. W. N. (2018, December). Toward non-intuition-based machine and artificial intelligence ethics: A deontological approach based on modal logic. In Proceedings of the 2018 AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society (pp. 130-136).

[3] Immaunel, K. (2021). The Metaphysics of Morals.

[4] Lenczewska, O. (2022). From Rationality to Morality: The Collective Development of Practical Reason in Kant’s Moral Anthropology. Kantian Review, 1-21.

[5] Madhloom, O. (2019). A normative approach to developing reflective legal practitioners: Kant and clinical legal education. The Law Teacher, 53(4), 416-430.

[6] Shi, W. (2022). “Heteronomous Morality So Called by Kant” and Kant’s Heteronomous Morality?—On Mou Zongsan’s Confucian Reading of Kant’s Ethics. Dao, 1-21.

[7]. Sticker, M. (2021). How Common Is Common Human Reason? The Plurality of Moral Perspectives and Kant’s Ethics. In Kant on Morality, Humanity, and Legality (pp. 167-187). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

[8]Vujošević, M. (2020). Kant’s Conception of Moral Strength. Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 50(4), 539-553.

[9] Zoshak, J., & Dew, K. (2021, May). Beyond kant and bentham: How ethical theories are being used in artificial moral agents. In Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-15).