Kantianism is the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher born in
Königsberg, Prussia. The term "Kantianism" or "Kantian" is sometimes
also used to describe contemporary positions in philosophy of mind,
epistemology, and ethics. Ethics
Kantian ethics are deontological, revolving entirely around duty rather
than emotions or end goals. All actions are performed in accordance with some
underlying maxim or principle, which are deeply different from each other; it is
according to this that the moral worth of any action is judged. Kant's ethics
are founded on his view of rationality as the ultimate good and his belief that
all people are fundamentally rational beings. This led to the most important
part of Kant's ethics, the formulation of the categorical imperative, which is
the criterion for whether a maxim is good or bad.
Simply put, this criterion amounts to a thought experiment: to attempt to
universalize the maxim and then see if the maxim and its associated action
would still be conceivable in such a world. For instance, holding the maxim
kill anyone who annoys you and applying it universally would result in a world
which would soon be devoid of people and without anyone left to kill. Thus
holding this maxim is irrational as it ends up being impossible to hold it.
Universalizing a maxim leads to it being valid, or to one of two contradictions —
a contradiction in conception or a contradiction in will. The first type
leads to a "perfect duty", and the second leads to an "imperfect duty."
Kant's ethics focus then only on the maxim that underlies actions and judges
these to be good or bad solely on how they conform to reason. Kant showed that
many of our common sense views of what is good or bad conform to his system but
denied that any action performed for reasons other than rational actions can
be good. Kant also denied that the consequences of an act in any way
contribute to the moral worth of that act, his reasoning being that the
physical world is outside our full control and thus we cannot be held
accountable for the events that occur in it.
The Formulations of the Categorical Imperative:
Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it
should become a universal law. Act in such a way that you treat
humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never merely
as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end.
Therefore, every rational being must so act as if he were through his maxim
always a legislating member in the universal kingdom of ends.
Teleology See Kant's Aesthetics and Teleology.
Political philosophy In political philosophy, Kant has had
wide and increasing influence with the major political philosopher of the late
twentieth century, John Rawls, drawing heavily on his inspiration in setting
out the basis for a liberal view of political institutions. The nature of
Rawls' use of Kant has engendered serious controversy but has demonstrated
the vitality of Kantian considerations across a wider range of questions than
was once thought plausible. See also
Neo-Kantianism Schopenhauer's criticism of the Kantian
philosophy References
Bibliography Henry Allison Kant's transcendental
Idealism Thomas Auxter Kant's Moral Teleology
Lewis White Beck A Commentary on Kant's Critique of Practical Reason
R. Beiner and W.J. Booth Kant and Political Philosophy
Gary Banham Kant and the Ends of Aesthetics
Gary Banham "Teleology, Transcendental Reflection and Artificial Life"
Tekhnehma: Journal of Philosophy and Technology Number 6.
Gary Banham Kant's Practical Philosophy: From Critique to Doctrine
Gary Banham Kant's Transcendental Imagination
Howard Caygill Art of Judgment Howard Caygill A Kant Dictionary
Mary Gregor Laws of Freedom: A Study of Kant's Method of Applying the
Categorical Imperative in the Metaphysik Der Sitten
Palmquist, Stephen. Kant's system of perspectives: an architectonic
interpretation of the critical philosophy. Lanham: University Press of
America. ISBN 9780819189271. Online. Palmquist, Stephen. Kant's critical
religion. Aldershot, Hants, England Burlington, Vermont: Ashgate. ISBN
9780754613336. Online. John Rawls Lectures on the History of
Moral Philosophy