The recent events regarding Volkswagen’s ‘Dieselgate’ scandal have raised a plethora of serious ethical questions that have yet to be answered. In 2006, Volkswagen began advertising the “clean diesel” car, an eco-friendly alternative to electric and hybrid vehicles. The supposed “clean diesel” engine claimed to pass all the strict standards enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) while increasing fuel efficiency and performance at a reasonable price point.
James Liang, a former Volkswagen engineer, and his team were instructed to design a ‘clean diesel” engine. As the deadline approached, the team “could not design a diesel engine that would meet the stricter U.S. emissions standards” . As a result, Liang and his team developed
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An act that would disobey these imperatives would be a contradiction to reason itself and therefore immoral according to Kantianism. This set of commands can help formulate and test a maxim, a subjective principle upon which one acts. Maxims justify one’s actions and are limited to an individual. In order for a maxim to be valid, it cannot have any situational exceptions. Overall, the maxim must pass the categorical imperative, which in turn determines one’s duty that finally results in an act with moral value if the duty and will are …show more content…
If Liang made his decisions solely based on the consequences, he would never have created the illegal software. His actions not only deceived customers but also resulted in irreversible damage to both the environment and to the health of everyone who came into contact with these vehicles. The repercussions of his actions were too extreme to be considered morally ethical. Similarly if Liang were a moral egotist, one who believes that everyone acts with one’s best interest in mind, he once again would not have developed the defeat device. Following this theory, any action that could damage his reputation or career would have never occurred. In addition, Liang did not treat Volkswagen consumers or society as a whole but “merely as a means”, which is morally impermissible according to Kantian ethics. If Liang were to treat these people as “mere means’ he would be acting for his personal benefit rather than for someone else. Liang’s actions were motivated by his duty to his supervisors at Volkswagen rather than the consequences of his actions; therefore, the theory of Kantianism is most applicable to this
Increasing environmental awareness, coupled with a responsible American government and improved technology, have all contributed to the comeback of low-and zero-emissions vehicles in the US. It remains to be seen whether the automakers and oil companies will once again work to halt this progress, or embrace it as the technology of a more responsible future.
Driven in large part by global initiatives and the potential for stringent regulations, the past decade or two has seen a marked increase in the importance of improvements with respect to environmental standards, including emissions and increases in fuel economy. In 2002, Cummins Emissions Solutions was launched after the need was identified for an emission solution that would help engines meet future regulations. In 2006, Cummins pioneered a hybrid diesel-electric bus which reduced fuel consumption and greenhouse gasses by more than 30 percent and me...
These two examples can demonstrate how each person can use the two formulations of the Categorical Imperative to decide whether a maxim is moral or not. Throughout Kant’s, Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals, some questionable ideas are portrayed. These ideas conflict with the present views of most people living today. Works Cited Kant, Immanuel.
With new diesel technology in today’s world, I think people should consider trying or using new diesel cars and trucks as well as the use of clean diesel.
Kant argued that the Categorical Imperative (CI) was the test for morally permissible actions. The CI states: I must act in such a way that I can will that my maxim should become a universal law. Maxims which fail to pass the CI do so because they lead to a contradiction or impossibility. Kant believes this imperative stems from the rationality of the will itself, and thus it is necessary regardless of the particular ends of an individual; the CI is an innate constituent of being a rational individual. As a result, failure ...
Kant largely focused on Categorical Imperative and had said “Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.” Kant saw the later as somewhat of a moral compass. Kant suggested to people if they were unsure if something was moral or not, to ask themselves what rule they would be following if they did, and they could then determine their
Immanuel Kant's deonotological ethical theory assesses if actions are moral based on the person's will or intention of acting. Kant's theory can be categorized as a deonotological because "actions are not assessed to be morally permissible on the basis of consequences they produce, but rather on the form of the agent's will in acting," (Dodds, Lecture 7) therefore his actions are based on duty and not consequential. Kantianism is based on three principles: maxims, willing, and the categorical imperative. Kant states that a maxim is a "general rule or principle which will explain what a person takes himself to be doing and the circumstances in which he takes himself to be doing it" (Feldman, 1999, 201). It is important that this principle be universalisable and that the maxim can be applied consistently to everyone that encounters similar situations, therefore willed as a universal law. The second aspect of Kant's theory is willing. This involves the agent consistently committing oneself to make an action occur. He states that, "In general, we can say that a person wills inconsistently if he wills that p be the case and he wills that q be the case and its impossible for p and q to be the case together" (Feldman, 1999, 203). T...
In Section One and Section Two of his work. Kant explores his position on his fundamental principle of morality, or his “categorical imperative”, or his idea that all actions are moral and “good” if they are performed as a duty. Such an idea is exemplified when he says, “I should never act except in such a way that I can also will that my maxim should become a universal law” (Kant 14). The philosopher uses examples such as suicide and helping others in distress to apply his principal to possible real life situation. Kant is successful in regards to both issues. As a result, it means that categorical imperative can plausibly be understood as the fundamental principle of all morality. Kant’s reasoning for his categorical imperative is written in a way that makes the theory out to be very plausible.
The Volkswagen emissions scandal is a series of choices made by the company and the people employed by Volkswagen to install a "cheat" button to alter the amount of emissions produced only under testing situations. Ordinarily, all vehicles on the road that run off of gasoline have a set about of CO2 and other harmful emissions produced by the burning of gasoline. Violation of these rules can result in fines and recalls. Due to an increased attention on car companies to fight global warming and air pollution a number of emissions have lowered in the over the year for tighter regulation on the amount of CO2 produced. Consequently, this reduction in the amount of CO2 produced is the source of the scandal. This change may come across as minor,
A maxim is the generalized rule that characterizes the motives for a person’s actions. For Kant, a will that is good is one that is acting by the maxim of doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do. The moral worth of an action is determined by whether or not it was acted upon out of respect for the moral law, or the Categorical Imperative. Imperatives in general imply something we ought to do, however there is a distinction between categorical imperatives and hypothetical imperatives. Hypothetical imperatives are obligatory so long as we desire X.
In 2014, researchers from West Virginia found out that recent models of Volkswagen vehicles were emitting up to 40 times the allowed levels of nitrogen oxides (2). These vehicles had a special software that would determine when the vehicle was in laboratory testing conditions, and the software would then alter the vehicle 's functionality to emit the legal amount of nitrogen oxides allowed by the EPA. The software was found in around half a million vehicles in the United States. In addition to the bad publicity, the Volkswagen scandal will cost the company at least $15.3 billion dollars in compensation to the owners of the affected vehicles (3). In 2016, Volkswagen engineer James Liang pleaded guilty for being a crucial part in developing the illegal software (3). The software was created because Volkswagen was unable to meet the rigorous EPA emission standards. Therefore, a small team of engineers including James Liang decided to cheat the emission exams to allow Volkswagen vehicles to be sold in the U.S.
Kant presents his followers with both categorical and hypothetical imperatives (Reitan). The hypothetical imperatives, often dubbed the imperfect duties, basically state, “If you want X, do Y (Reitan).” In other words, hypothetical imperatives are not obligatory of people, but encourage certain actions for certain results. Categorical imperatives say, “Do Y, no matter what you want (Reitan).” These perfect duties, as they are referred to as, are rules that we must follow without any acceptable exceptions (Degrazia, Mappes and Brand-Ballard). These perfect duties include the forbidding of killing innocent people, lying, breaking promises, becoming intoxicated, committing suicide, and masturbating (Horn). Kant ultimately believes that reason dictates what is right and wrong through the categorical imperative of Kantian Deontology, which has two formulations (Reitan). The first states, “Act only on that maxim that you can at the same time (consistently) will to be a universal law (of nature) (Reitan).” This is the philosophical equivalent of “treat others the way you want to be treated.” The second formulation, which could arguably provide a different
Introduction Volkswagen (VW), one of the world’s largest automakers, was recently found guilty of utilizing technologies in their vehicles that falsely displayed emissions readings when tested (NY Times). Multiple employees of the company have been prosecuted, due to their involvement in designing software to allow VW’s new “clean diesel” engines to pass “strict” U.S. standards, while delivering the performance VW sought after (LA Times). Furthermore, VW was found to have rigged cars not just in the US, but worldwide. Given the company’s large influence on a market dependent on consumer trust, their decision to cheat regulations, in order to promote their product as “clean,” also went against the duty to follow established moral law. Kant’s
Overcoming Depression during Pregnancy – A Guide to Natural Treatments Some women suffer from depression during the stages of their pregnancy. Now, as this is a sensitive time for the woman and already involves many chemical and hormonal changes and fluctuations within the body, taking prescription or pharmaceutical medication may not seem like an attractive prospect. And in fact, the taking of mood stabilizers or medication for depression during pregnancy can have further complications and further disrupt hormonal swings. However, all hope is not lost because there are countless method of combatting depression and they can all be carried out naturally, without the reliance of a tablet or drug.
In order to make this point, Kant made a distinction between hypothetical and categorical imperatives. The hypothetical imperative demands the performance of an action as a means to another end (i.e. on the condition that it resulted in a certain desired “end” that would justify the means). In contrast, the categorical imperative, which is one of his main ideas, demands the unconditional performance of an act for its own sake (i.e. as a duty rather than as a means to another end). He argued that the categorical imperative was the voice of our own rational selves/the rule our intelligence gave us. The categorical imperative stated that we should act only according to that maxim by which we can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.