In this essay I have chosen to compare two opposing theories‚ Immanuel Kant ’s absolutist deontological ethics and Joseph Fletchers relativist situation ethics. The deontological ethics focuses on actions made according to duty and the categorical imperative - which shows how acts are intrinsically good or bad. The situation ethics state that no act is intrinsically good or bad‚ and that actions should b made according to love. From this perspective it looks as thought Kant ’s views were less personal
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consistency. Both of these concepts lead to the principle of universalizability. He stated that‚ “An act is morally acceptable if and only if its maxim is universalizable.” To prove his statement he used two imperatives which are hypothetical imperatives and Categorical Imperatives. “Categorical Imperatives” is a single moral obligation that relates to the concept of duty which Kant defines as a major content in this obligation. Kant assessed the principle of universalizability by denying benevolence which
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the consequences of that action. Deontology also considers the individual rights of those affected by an action. Kant agreed that we still have moral duties to ourselves and those around us‚ but believed that the categorical imperative is the foundation of duty. The categorical imperative‚ as defined by Kant‚ is a moral obligation that applies to all rational beings‚ with no qualifications. There are three laws regarding
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As explained in lecture the first formulation of the categorical imperative is‚ “Act only in accordance with that maxim that you can at the same time will that it become a universal law.” First off‚ what does it mean to say‚ “Will as a universal law?” This means that you must ask yourself two questions. The first being whether you can consistently conceive of everyone acting on your maxim in all possible circumstances‚ and the second question being to ask yourself whether you can will everyone acting
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Memo case study 1 To: Robert Smith (Executive Director-Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States) From: (Student at UMUC) Subject: Safety and quality concerns of Coke products in India. Date: June 07‚ 2013 Coca-Cola has considerably gained a large share of the market in the soft drinks industry. In the chase of expanding to foreign companies‚ it decided to explore India which presented great potential for revenues due to the growing population. The company built bottling
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In early fall of 2015‚ news agencies across the U.S. were publishing stories about a report issued by the Environmental Protection Agency detailing violations of the Clear Air Act by Volkswagen automobiles. It had been discovered by investigative teams that Volkswagen had been cheating emissions control tests with illegal software in their programmable diesel engines. The engines were programmed to lower their nitrogen (NOx) emissions during standard testing when in real-world driving‚ they actually
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Kant’s Moral Theory Immanuel Kant is a German deontologist in the eighteenth century. He believed that the only test of whether a decision is right or wrong is whether it could be applied to everyone. Would it be all right for everyone to do what you are doing? If not‚ your decision is wrong. Kant sees that people ought not to be used‚ but ought to be regarded as having the highest intrinsic value. From here‚ I see that Kant believes that the intrinsic value of an act determines what is morally
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Former President of the United States Abraham Lincoln once quoted "I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. . . . corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruptions in high places will follow‚ and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the predijuces of the people until all the wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the republic is destroyed." Because I too share the worries
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that action‚ but it is really not that simple (pg 743). There are marginal humans who pleasure cannot be measured for. Then there is Kant’s theory which is about duty and following said duty. The duty that Kant talks about is a categorical imperative. Categorical imperative is assumed to always be the right choice given every situation‚ but that is not always the case. Thus‚ neither theory is very compelling because there are many example of each where they contradict themselves or do not make sense
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Mill believed that the things (events‚ material items‚ choices‚ etc.) that made the most people happy were the most morally good thing to do (par 1). Kant believed that if your intentions are good‚ your morals are good. Kant also had his Categorical Imperatives which is his view on how one’s maxims (subjective principles of actions) become a universal law (i.e. MURDER) (par 3). Heilbroner goes on to discuss about the future‚ the environment‚ and what we do now could benefit the future people (pg
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