Kant's Views on Morality

Morality has been a subject of many philosophical discussions that has prompted varied responses from different philosophers. One of the most famous approaches to morality is that of Immanuel Kant in his writing Groundwork of Metaphysics of Morals. Kant in this work argues that the reason for doing a particular action or the drive to do good things is a fundamental basis of defining moral quality in a person. To him, an action could be considered morally right only if the motivation behind doing that action was out of ‘goodwill’. When he defines these moral rules, he characterizes them in the form of imperatives – the hypothetical imperative and categorical imperative. While hypothetical imperatives deal with motivations and actions that lead to a particular end, categorical imperatives are a product of rational behavior in human beings. Kant considers such categorical imperatives to be the moral basis for life.

As a result, when a person who is “cold and indifferent to the sufferings of others’ does an action that elicits a positive response from someone by helping them, he is more morally worthy according to Kant. Such a person does this action even when he does not want or feel like doing that action. There is neither emotional payback in the form of contentment nor material benefits of helping someone else. Emotional selflessness brings the moral worth in the action of helping others. Hence, according to Kant, there must be something in that person that motivates them to help others even though they get nothing out of it and this motivation is the product of rational thinking, that provides for a better moral worth. On the other hand when a person “is a sympathetic, compassionate philanthropist who finds an inner satisfact...

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...osed to someone who helps feed the homeless. This example may seem extreme considering in today’s world both such acts would be considered good from the generalized moral compass in the world today. One would be right to a point to say that as Kant’s moral philosophy should not be considered as an excuse for people to not act morally. His way of looking at morality is a way to look at actions and motivations to be moral even in the worst possible scenarios. His view of highest moral order may be something that looks to be inaccessible but it is definitely something that people should operate by even when they become hopeless or as Kant puts it, “overclouded by the sorrows of his own”. The standard that Kant sets in his Groundwork of Metaphysics of Morals should be one that society follows when

Works Cited

Immanuel Kant - Groundwork for the metaphysics of Morals