Assess The Validity Of Kant's View On Duty

Philosophy is a discipline that studies how one ought to live, as well as study reality, nature, existence, etc. This way of living is characterised by a set of morals that must be followed in order to live what is considered a good life. However, there are a number of philosophers who propose differing sets of morals and have different ideas of living life to its fullest (Singer v. Mill). Kant proposes that moral actions are defined by the motivation of an action, and later on explains that moral actions are duties. There is stronger support for moral actions to be motivated by duty through his incorporation of reason. This essay will explain the validity of Kant’s argument by first explaining Kant’s view on duty, then analyse his view of

At some point, he talks about an a priori style of reasoning, which is what Kant says is needed in order to understand morals in order for the set of morals to be universal, rather than applicable only to a particular set of rational beings in specific circumstances. He then explains that it is necessary to understand the importance of morals because it the basis of doing everyday tasks with proper intentions. He starts in the first chapter about good qualities versus good will, that the latter is good as it is, while the former can be used for good or bad. He then starts talking about duties, which he describes as the obligations of good will, and three assumptions about it. First, actions are considered good if it is done out of duty and nothing else. Second, they are to be judged based on the object of an action’s motivation. Third, it must be done under the ‘reverence for the (moral) law’, which he states must be universal rather than specific. He concludes the chapter by saying that people must be educated with the ability to use reason, as uneducated ones would be easily influenced in the wrong way. He moves on and states that almost all action that happens is not out of duty alone, leading to his disappointment regarding the lack of examples that could be considered as truly pure. However, he says that reason requires specific moral

Kant’s argument about reason as the way to bring out pure duties is support for moral actions to be motivated by duty rather than by inclination, as Timmerman (2007) notes that human tendency is to side with selfish desires and reason is needed in order to ascertain the moral truth. Through proper reasoning, one can determine what the pure moral duties are. This means that the best option to moral action is reason, as inclination can be based on a momentary feeling that is inconsistent and may be clouded with selfishness. Through reason, one can properly assess the proper actions for a certain situation, and these reasons must avoid biases. Kant states that in order to produce good reason, education is important. At first, this may seem contradictory since education has a certain influence which may taint the good will, however, this would not be the case if the subject matter of education is logic, since Kant regards physics and ethics as not a priori. This is because reason can mean the mere interpretation of a situation (Dunne et al, 2013), and therefore people must be educated in such a way that they can reason properly, as well as be able to see through the reasons of others in order to avoid negative influences. Another reason that duties are possibly better motivators than inclination is because duties have a more obligatory,