Kantian Ethics Essay

Volkswagen attempted to create a “clean diesel” engine back in 2006 where James Liang was one of the engineers in charge of the project. At this time, Liang and fellow conspirators realized they could not improve the diesel engine to meet emissions regulations as well as keep the customers happy (Schoenberg). Liang began looking into ways to cheat the system. The conspirators designed a software that would falsify data by expressing the vehicle as running “clean” when it actually was operating above emission standards. The engines with the software installed on it were then sold and used on the roads. A few years later, the State of California saw a discrepancy between the emissions measured from the road and the lab, causing questions to be

Kantian ethics, unlike utilitarian ethics, is an ethical theory that determines whether an action is morally right based on a person’s duty and sense of duty. Kantian ethics does not look into the consequences or outcome of an action unlike in utilitarian ethics. There are four main elements in Kantian ethics: will, duty, maxim, and the categorical imperative. The will of a person can be viewed as the intent of their action. The duty is what is expected of the person like an engineer is expected to protect the welfare of the public. The maxim is a subjective statement that governs an action only to the individual. A maxim can become a universal moral law when it is tested. This test is called the categorical imperative. The categorical imperative has three formulations a maxim must follow in order to become universal. The first formulation is that there should be no exceptions to actions because immoral behavior comes from exceptions. The second formulation is that humans (and rational beings) can never be treated as instruments or be treated as a means to an end. The final formulation is a way to create autonomy, which means a person’s will should be regarded at the same time as making the universal laws through