Summary of Kants categorical imperative Essay Example for Free

Summary of Kants categorical imperative Essay Immanuel Kants moral theory can be best explained by comparing it to a math equation. Kants moral system will always hold true no matter what the circumstance just like how two plus two will always equal four. According to Kant, our lives should be lived according to maxims that can be willed into universal law (Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, p 303). However the action regarding a moral decision is not judged by the consequences of that action, rather by the motive of that action. Kants the method of moral reasoning starts off by first realizing the principle the rational agent is acting under. To fully understand what this means, a rational agent is to be defined as an entity who is capable of making rational decisions regardless of their natural inclinations. This condition excludes such examples as, animals, infants, and people in a coma from being considered to be a rational agent because they do not show the capacity to reason. After realizing the principle the person is acting under, determine if the reason is morally right. In order to determine if the maxim is ethical and able to be willed into universal law, it must pass three tests: autonomy, respect for humanity, and the kingdom of ends. Autonomy describes the feeling of accomplishment. This can be illustrated as a man who promises his wife that he will take off the weekend from golfing and file their tax reports. By keeping his promise to his wife he not only feels the satisfaction from finishing their tax report but also, more importantly feels good about following through with his promise. Autonomy is important because if the husband breaks his promises and lives his life as a promise breaker then this maxim is clearly self-defeating. The entire maxim of promising to break promises does not pass the test of autonomy therefore could never be passed as a universal law. However, if after passing the autonomy test, then a principle must also respect everyone elses autonomy. In order to respect humanity, make decisions that show an overall concern for rational agents. If by treating them as a rational agent, then the principle will not affect another persons ability rationalize. In order to do this, it is never acceptable to treat a rational being as merely a means (Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, p 307). That is to say, the act of rape treats the rational agent as a means to sexual gratification. The act of rape does not respect the agent as a rational being and could never be willed into a moral universal law. However if a principle was able to pass the first two conditions, then it is necessary to subject it to the kingdom of ends test. The kingdom of ends is composed of a group of rational agents all with different objectives in life. The importance of having different objectives in life insures that all perspectives and backgrounds have been covered. These agents have been given the responsibility of creating a free society. A free society entails laws that every rational agent in that society would agree upon. If the principle is not a measure that the kingdom of ends would enact, then the principle, by Kants definition, is immoral. Let us analyze the principle of apathy. Living an apathetic life does indeed pass the test of autonomy and by showing indifference to other rational agents it also passes the test of humanity. However, apathy would not pass the kingdom of ends, as no rational being would accept such a maxim. As a result, an apathetic life could not be passed as universal law. As an example, we will refer back to the persecution of Jews during World War II. Say a man is hiding a Jew in his house and the Gestapo comes knocking on door. However, as the Gestapo questions the man of the whereabouts of the Jew, the man cannot lie and say that no one is hiding within his house, but at the same time, if he were to tell the truth he would be indirectly bringing harm upon himself and the Jew. The man should question the Gestapo about what they plan on doing to the Jew once they have located him. According to Kant, consequences have no relevance, although if all possible consequences were known, then it would be permissible to lightly take them into account. Since telling the truth by giving the Gestapo the whereabouts of the Jew would bring direct harm, it is permissible to lie. The maxim would be to never lie unless the truth results direct or indirect harm. This maxim respects autonomy and human nature and would be pass the kingdom of ends test and thus can be willed into universal moral law. Now take the case of Harry and Sally, according to Kantian moral reasoning, should Sally seduce Harry? If Sally were to seduce Harry by taking him back to her place and having sex with him, she would be using him as a means to her ends. By Sally using Harry simply as a means to achieve her ends, that moral decision is breaking a fundamental Kantian principle. Using people as only a means is never acceptable. The difference between Sally seducing Harry into sex and Sally having consensual sex with Harry is the difference of deception and coercion. According to Mappes, deception and coercion are the methods for sexually using someone (Mappes, Sexual Morality, p. 166). The whole idea is based off the respect for an individual person to voluntarily make their own decisions. By deceiving someone, it is clearly misleading a person to make a decision that they would not have made, had it been on their own regard. However the objection can be made that Sally should do what ultimately brings her pleasure. Using Utilitarian morality, something that results in the greater pleasure, or avoidance of harm, of the populations involved is morally correct. Even though Harry is somewhat apprehensive of the whole casual sex idea, he is not defiant or strongly against it. It can even be reasoned that Harry might even enjoy himself once him and Sally are having sex. And also, casual sex is perfectly okay if there is no lying, deceiving, or exploiting (Elliston, In Defense of Promiscuity, p. 170). I believe Ellistons definition of deceiving is different that Kants definition. Kant covers all and any type of deception as immoral. Elliston agrees that deception is indeed immoral, but his definition of deception would be a man telling a woman he does not have herpes when indeed he does. As long as sex is consensual, there is no harm. Sally would only be seducing Harry back to her house under, say, the premise to watch a movie, however when the actual act of intercourse happens, Harry is not being deceived at all. Even with the arguments above, Sally would ultimately be using Harry simply as a means to achieve her ends of sexual pleasure. By using Kantian morality, Sally should not pressure Harry to going home with her nor should she try to seduce him. Kant reasons that human beings have been given this gift of free will to act as the dividing line between humans and animals. Animals are considered animals because they lack the ability to rationalize. What then, is the ultimate value and purpose of having a free will? If the point of having a free will was to seek pleasure and avoid harm, then we are nothing more than animals and have wasted this ability to reason. Instead, humans have free will so they could follow moral law. Therefore, follow moral law even in situations where social laws or natural inclinations could conflict. By following Kants moral reasoning, what we do in our lives is right not only because we ourselves believe it to be right but also since we have willed it to become universal law, it could not possibly be wrong. The maxims that we base our lives on are intrinsically good because we are able to will it into universal law. Therefore, moral decisions made using Kants ideas can be applied universally. Kants ideas show respect for humanity and peoples decisions are not made for selfish pleasure seeking reasons by treating people as a means, but rather they are made based on universal morals and by treating everybody as an rational agent. By following Kants moral reasoning a rational agent will be able to make the right decision when faced with any type of moral dilemma.

Introspective Knowledge and Displaced Perception :: science

Introspective Knowledge and Displaced Perception "Dretske remarks that there are ‘two important differences between introspective knowledge and other forms of displaced perception’ (p. 60). What are these differences? Are they enough to call into question his view of introspective knowledge as displaced perception?" The second chapter of Naturalizing the Mind is in the main an attempt to provide an account of introspective knowledge consistent with the Representational Thesis. Dretske takes introspective knowledge to be a given and proceeds by trying to explain how such knowledge is possible without appealing to an ‘inner sense’, an idea that seems to conflict with the Thesis’s commitment to externalism about the content of mental states. To this end, he proposes that introspection is a species of displaced perception. However, he highlights two important differences between introspective knowledge and other forms of displaced perception that seem to suggest that introspective knowledge cannot in any relevant sense be viewed as an instance of displaced perception. As a result, Dretske fails to explain how introspective knowledge is possible and therefore fails to provide a compelling alternative to the ‘inner sense’ account of introspective knowledge. Introspective knowledge is "knowledge the mind has of itself" (p. 39). For example, knowing, when I perceive a yellow box, that I am having a certain experience (namely an experience of a yellow box) is, for Dretske, an instance of introspective knowledge. This knowledge is not about the box’s being yellow or indeed about the box at all, it is knowledge about myself, knowledge that I am having a certain experience (on Dretske’s view, knowledge that I am representing a, perceived, box as yellow). Introspective knowledge seems to have some strange properties. "Natsoulas defines one form of consciousness—reflective consciousness—as a privileged ability to be non-inferentially aware of (all or some of ) one’s current mental occurrences. We seem to have this ability. In telling you what I believe I do not have to figure this out (as you might have to) from what I say or do. There is nothing from which I infer that A looks longer than B. It just does." (p . 39) Dretske take! s the notion that humans have introspective knowledge as a given. His interest in the matter arises when one attempts to "explain how we come by such knowledge and what gives us this first-person authority"(p. 40) Dretske wants to reject one possible explanation, namely the idea that introspective knowledge is garnered by the mind perceiving its own workings.

Importance Of Chemistry Essay

Our entire universe is made up of matter which is constantly changing forms and evolving into other forms of energy. We use chemistry from the beginning of the day till its end, the toothpaste we use to brush our teeth is made of abrasives, fluoride, and detergents. These common household items contain batteries, which make them very chemically dependent. The purification our water by process of chlorination, dental cleanliness from toothpaste, sterilization, the control and the cure of disease are all a part of daily living discovered and created by chemistry. These discoveries make up a major component for the protection of our health and hygiene and are vital for the future existence of mankind. Chemistry is the branch of science that deals with the identification of the substances of which matter is composed, of their properties and the ways in which they interact, combine, and change. The use of these processes to form new substances, understanding the importance of chemistry is essential to know the importance of chemistry in everyday life. Everything on earth is made up of chemicals you, your food, and the products you use in life such as soaps, perfumes etc. all are made up of chemicals. Life without chemicals is impossible. A number of changes that you observe are the result of chemical reactions like the rain, the change in the color of leaves, cleaning of any particular material in your house, all involve chemicals. You need to understand certain chemical reactions. When does your packet food expire? What disinfectants and repellents you should use to keep your house hygienic and healthy and so on. A guest (Jonathan Liu) stated â€Å"I never knew that chemistry is applied to so many things in everyday life! I knew that there would be a lot of math involved and just thought that we would be studying science more in depth. Now that I’ve read this, I am more interested in studying chemistry at school†. Chemistry is important because it helps in exploring things which are unknown to mankind. Chemistry is important because it explains the future behavior of plants and animals and all of us use chemicals directly or indirectly in our daily lives. We are us ing chemistry when we cook, when we wash, when we eat, when we get ready, when we play, when we think, as a  matter of fact, we always use chemistry. Increasing the knowledge in chemistry is important if we want to improve our lifestyle on the daily. Chemistry is also important for the environment. When you are aware of the harming effects of the gases like carbon dioxide and methane as a result of the greenhouse effect, you can easily carve out solutions for the reduction of effects on the environment. If you go with a minimum knowledge of the importance use of chemistry you can help in saving the environment to a large extent. Though chemistry is thought as complicated and a boring science subject, chemistry is responsible in explaining the world you live in, apart from explaining cooking, cleaning, medicine and environment issues; chemistry is in essence the study of everything. Understanding the basic chemistry is essential for all, but specializing in chemistry, making a career out of the subject is also interesting. Plenty of chemistry related high paying jobs are available today. All the medical students, physicists, geologists, nutritionists study chemistry. That the importance of chemistry will increase day by day and it is essential to understand the basic chemistry to properly conduct the activities of the daily life.

Definition Of Obesity And Obesity - 1632 Words

MEANING OF OBESITY: The term â€Å"overweight† â€Å"obesity† refer to body weight that is greater than what is considered healthy for a certain height. The most useful measure of overweight obesity is body mass index (BMI). BMI is calculated from your height and weight. In other way the condition of being obese is increased body weight caused by excessive accumulation of fat. The terms â€Å"overweight† â€Å"obese† describe weight ranges that are above what is medically accepted as healthy. [Reference-www.nhlbi.nih.gov] OVERVIEW: Millions of Americans and people worldwide are overweight or obese. Being overweight or obese puts people at risk for many health problems. [1] CORONARY HEART DISEASE OR ARTERY DISEASE- It is a narrowing of the small blood vessels that supply blood oxygen to the heart. Obesity can also lead to heart failure. This is a serious condition in which the heart cannot get pump enough blood to meet our body’s needs. [2] HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE OR HYPERTENSION- High blood pressure is increased blood pressure as blood flows through the arteries the heart works harder than normal. The chances of having high blood pressure are greater if we are overweight or obese. [3] HIGH BLOOD CHOLESTEROL OR DYSLIPIDEMIA- If people are overweight or obese, we are at increasedShow MoreRelatedObesity is Not a Disease Essay1185 Words   |  5 PagesObesity has played a major role in media over the last decade. With growing concern over the issue, a controversy over whether obesity is a disease itself or not has developed. Obesity, by definition, is a condition that is characterized by excessive accumulation and storage of fat in the body, usually indicated by a body mass index of 30 or greater. 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