There is an old saying that it is better to be lucky than good. This may be true if a person is always lucky, but luck sometimes has a tendency to run out. Making decisions that affect other people’s lives based on luck can be sometimes dangerous, and usually ethically questionable. Leaders who routinely depend on luck for success may find themselves relying on other questionable actions, such as lying, cheating, or stealing, to ensure luck stays on their side. Additionally, this type of behavior may force subordinates to make ethically questionable decisions when luck begins to run out.…
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher from the 18th century who is well known as an essential person in philosophy today. He has made the argument that there are a set of essential ideas that structure human experience and is the source of morality. His thought continues to have a major influence in contemporary thought, especially the fields of metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, political philosophy, and aesthetics. Kant’s theory on morality as often been criticized on being too…
In this analytical paper I’ll be analyzing a scenario about a five year old girl who is in renal failure and is in need of a kidney transplant. In this the father is the only one compatible with her, but he does not want to donate his kidney to save her life. The scenario will be analyzed through the deontological/Kantian and the consequentialist/utilitarian viewpoints in ethical decision making. It’ll also be analyzed by deciding which perspective would be relevant and a discussion of what I as a doctor would do following the ethical view point of my choice.…
Immanuel Kant would never condone Scott’s behavior to use Bailey in the way he did. He would have called Scott’s actions immoral and unethical. Kant’s theory indicated that, “we should never use people” and “everyone, no matter who they are, should be both the legislator and the follower of moral laws” (Ciulla 95). He similarly stated, “For all rational beings stand under the law that each of them should treat himself and all others never merely as a means but always at the same time as an end in himself” (Ciulla 107). Kant would feel that it was Scott’s duty to make decisions without using another person as simply a means to an end, and that people should be treated as ends in themselves. By Scott attempting to make Bailey do these unethical…
In “A Simplified Account of Kantian Ethics”, author Onora O’Neill makes the claim that Kantianism and Utilitarianism have 2 distinct views on human life and the way it’s value should guide an individual’s morals. She firstly focuses on explaining the Utilitarian perspective on individual purpose and life value, rather dramatically calling it a task “not for the faint-hearted” (O’Neill, 4). Fundamentally, utilitarianism upholds a standard of maximizing utility, meaning that no one individual’s happiness is to be ranked above the greater good in importance. She describes Utilitarianism as “dauntingly long, indeed interminable,” (O’Neill, 4) which I personally think is true of any moral theory, Kantianism included, but more so for Utilitarianism because of its requirement of self-sacrifice.…
For Immanuel Kant, guilt is considered a necessary condition for punishment and judicial punishment can never be used merely as a means to promote some other good for the criminal himself or civil society. He argues that, an offender must first be found to be deserving of punishment before any consideration is given to the utility of punishment for himself or his fellow citizens. In this view, utilitarian concerns can never justify the punishment of an innocent person while guilt itself demands punishment even where punishment is entirely devoid of social utility. Therefore, again we observe that the best action is the one that maximizes utility and can be applied in various ways, but most commonly relates to the maintenance of healthy emotional…
From the way that Kant has been interpreted as a constructivist under the standard model, as Wood’s revealed, one can remark three points about this approach: Overemphasizing on the Formula of Universal Law (FUL), Conception of Value, Conception of Autonomy.…
He has theories and one of his quotes for categorical imperative is “Act only on that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law” (Kant 105). What he argues about his quote is that if you want someone or others to do good, then you first will have to do well to them. You think first before doing your actions, and you begin to do your actions later. One example would be my first year in college. I was still undecided of what major I wanted. I then started thinking if I should just quit school and get a job, or should I stay in school and continue my education. As I asked myself that question, I began to think about the consequences of quitting in school and not quitting. By quitting school, I would have lack of education, and also won’t have a high paying job. If I stay in school and not quit, we then see that by staying in school will result in a better education. I will also get a good job with better payment. I also thought about the influences I would give to my brothers of quitting or not quitting school. There is good and bad for quitting and not quitting school. The point of view that came up to my head was that how each of us create our own universal law. Universal law is your own law and how it can affect everyone around you. So he thinks that by thinking first about anything we want,…
Emmanuel Kant (hereinafter “Kant”) believes that Ethics is categorical and states that our moral duties are not dependent on feelings but on reason. He further states that our moral duties are unconditional, universally valid, and necessary, regardless of the possible consequences or opposition to our inclinations (Pojman and Vaughn 239).…
Fraud is generally defined as an omission of a material fact or a misrepresentation of the truth, intended for personal gain or to cause loss to another party. The act of fraud is most commonly committed in order to deprive another of money, property, or a legal right. Fraud is considered criminal activity, and anyone who is affected by a fraudulent act has the ability to file a lawsuit to collect damages. J.C. Penny was accused of marking up the prices on their products and then discounting them to the original price in order to trick customers into thinking they were receiving heavy discounts and better deals. J.C. Penny committed this act for their own personal gain, and in doing so, they deprived their customers of money that they would…
Kant philosophy has contributed in development of "pure" moral philosophy, a "metaphysics of morals" that is based on the concepts of reason, not on empirical observations. According to his philosophy moral obligations are applicable to all human beings as it applies not only for particular person in particular situation, but also to all rational beings in all circumstances.…
One of the approaches of ethics which bases morality on foundational principle of obligations or duties is called Deontology (Fieser, 2015). Deontological ethics is concerned on the action being morally right because of some characteristic of the action itself, not because the consequences or the outcome of the action is good (Brittanica.com, 2015). For instance, lying is morally wrong but if a person has to commit a lie in order to save the life of someone, the action of that person would still be wrong although that action may produce a good outcome (BBC.co.uk, 2014). The theories of Immanuel Kant and Sir William David Ross are widely known in the field of deontological…
Enoc is well known for the positive values that they carry that most companies don’t. Enoc has its’ own code of conduct which include people, integrity, team work, transparency, and respect. Taking each code into more details, we can say that Enoc always represent their ethical responsibilities towards their people and stakeholders they are dealing with and putting them as their top priority, always taking responsibilities and working as a team hand by hand, they show respect to everyone and most importantly they show trust between all their employees, customers and shareholders. Looking at Enoc from the Western perspective, we can say that it is both, duty and virtue ethics. Duty ethics is the principles, obligations or rule based ethics; Enoc has its’ own ethical principles that they follow which makes them duty oriented. In addition, virtue ethics is when the significance is on an individual character as the key element of ethical thinking; Enoc has also shown virtue since they don’t only follow the principles, but they…
According to Kant, he believes that the only thing unconditionally good is good will. Good will is the idea of people having to do ones moral duty. Kant’s ethical theories are based off of the categorical imperatives. Categorical imperatives, as stated during class, act only on those rules that you can rationally will to be universal. In response to Kant’s theory, I believe that good will is not the only thing that is unconditionally good. I believe this because there will be many instances in life where having a good will can lead to tragic situations.…
Immanuel Kant is a German philosopher (1724-1804), who had contributed on the arenas of philosophy, war, peace, science, beauty & geography. The word deontology is derived from the Greek word “Deon”, meaning duty and “tology” mean theory (Mackinnon & Fiala 2018). The base idea of Kant’s Deontological ethics is just to do our duty in any circumstances. Thus, a moral agent should act for the sake of good and motivated by obligation or duty, not for an ulterior motive. In Kant’s perspective, pleasure and happiness are not the only ultimate goal of life, to mention one of the strengths of Deontological ethics is respecting human being freedom, to let them have their own choice and to follow the path they choose should be protected. This view was also his reply to…