Moral Law According To Kant
Immanuel Kant was a deontologist from Germany in the eithteenth century. He believed that the only test of whether a decision is right or wrong is whether it could be applied to everyone. Would it be all right for everyone to do what you are doing? If not, your decision is wrong. It would be wrong, for example, to make a promise with the intention of breaking it because if everyone did that, no one would believe anyone's promises. In ethics, Kant tried to show that doing one's duty consisted in following only those principles that one would accept as applying equally to all.
Kant objects most of all to the principle that one's own happiness can be the ground of morality. He rejects this possibility because well-being is not always proportionate to virtuous behavior. By this I mean that one manÕs well being is not always universal to all. Most significantly, Kant renounces happiness as the principle of morality because it obliterates the specific difference between virtue and vices.
Universality is the form of a moral law whereby all rational beings are subject to the same condition as the basis of morality. Kant argues that there can be principles for action that do not admit of exceptions, and that this occurs through practical reason. In other words, the possibility for morality does not hinge on the empirical world, but rather is a feature of the nature of the entity that is the ground for morality. Since all rational...
In July 2009, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) listed the budget of the United States Postal Service as “high risk” and recommended oversight from Congress and the Executive Branch. Specifically, the GAO stated that “Amid challenging economic conditions and a changing business environment, USPS is facing a deteriorating financial situation in which it does not expect to cover its expenses and financial obligations in fiscal years 2009 and 2010” (“Restructuring”, 2009, pg. 1). The GAO claimed that the mail volume in 2009 would likely decrease by about 28 billion as compared to 2008 and that the USPS would likely see declining volumes for the next five years (“Restructuring”, 2009, pg. 1). Clearly, the USPS is currently facing a dire financial situation in which major reforms are needed to ensure the long term success of the agency. In this policy review, I will focus specific attention on the Private Express Statutes, which grant the Postal Service a monopoly on first class mail. As I will argue here, the Private Express Statutes should be repealed on economic and historical grounds.
The U.S. Postal Service is one of the largest organizations in the world. In fiscal 2005, it had nearly 705,000 career employees and handled about 211 million pieces of mail through an extremely complicated system of carefully coordinated activities (United States Postal Service Annual report, 2005).
The amount of letters commissioned in America has been steadily decreasing on a daily basis. The majority of citizens are now sending their letters via e-mail or other methods of technology. Postal service companies such as USPS are struggling to keep business thriving. To compete with the technological advances in modern America, USPS should restructure their postal systems by terminating unessential delivery days and strategically limiting postal branches in order to conserve government money.
In the essay titled “Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals” published in the Morality and Moral Controversies course textbook, Immanuel Kant argues that the view of the world and its laws is structured by human concepts and categories, and the rationale of it is the source of morality which depends upon belief in the existence of God. In Kant’s work, categorical imperative was established in order to have a standard rationale from where all moral requirements derive. Therefore, categorical imperative is an obligation to act morally, out of duty and good will alone. In Immanuel Kant’s writing human reason and or rational are innate morals which are responsible for helping human. Needless to say, this also allows people to be able to distinct right from wrong. For the aforementioned reasons, there is no doubt that any action has to be executed solely out of a duty alone and it should not focus on the consequence but on the motive and intent of the action. Kant supports his argument by dividing the essay into three sections. In the first section he calls attention to common sense mor...
The first post office in the United States was established in seventeen seventy-five, which makes it the oldest most reliable post service in history. It is a well know fact that in the beginning, this business was called the Pony Express, which began in eighteen sixty. Years later the US Post office has become the largest company that we rely on to deliver our mail. This mailing institution delivers more mail to a larger area than any other delivery service in the world. They are rendering assistance to more than one million people in North America. There are over six hundred thousand employees and in excess of thirty four thousand facilities nationwide. This institution thrives to provide customer service, available products, transport of products, and accessibility to all consumers. The United States Postal Service is a reliable, excellent, and efficient delivery service. They supply a wide variety of convenient products to help with any shipping needs consumers may have.
The concept Kant is displaying in his work is the universal maxim. He believes in the idea of the will of every human being to be a part of the universal law. Individuals are to reflect upon their action by looking at the motivating principle behind their action. The question is would the motivation of my action be universally accepted or rejected? Kant is saying that we should look at the motivating principle behind our actions and compare that to how it would be seen on a universal level. Then ask, would we want another person to act with the same motivating principle? In all we are to act in a manner that the will of our action be a maxim that becomes a universal law.
Immanuel Kant was an eighteenth century philosopher whose ideas redefined philosophical views of morality and justice, and provided a base for modern philosophers to argue these ideas. In Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, he argues against Hume’s idea of utilitarianism. Kant also explores the idea of freedom, free action, moral action, and how to determine if our actions are moral by use of the categorical imperative.
As a retired United States Postal employee, I can say from experience that becoming a postal employee is a life changing and rewarding experience. It’s conveys a sense of pride and accomplishment at the end of the workday. Furthermore, it can be an outstanding opportunity for someone without a degree or with limited formal education. Working for the Postal Service has the potential to improve a person’s quality of life with exceedingly competitive compensation and benefits. I began working for the Postal Service as a temporary employee, worked my way up through the ranks, and retired as a manager.
In Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, Immanuel Kant argues that human beings inherently have capability to make purely rational decisions that are not based on inclinations and such rational decisions prevent people from interfering with freedom of another. Kant’s view of inherent ability to reason brings different perspective to ways which human beings can pursue morality thus it requires a close analytical examination.
This American freedom was purely intended for the whites, as the “Patriots were simultaneously maintaining the practice of race-based slavery in the colonies” (172). The African-Americans ' participation in the Revolutionary War, both enslaved and free, increased due to the efforts to contradict the lack of freedom in America by the British army. Lord Dunmore proclaimed that he would promise freedom to slaves who fought on the British side, initiating the “Ethiopian Regiment” (172). However, the American Elite, especially in the southern states, contradicted Britain’s views of liberty by transforming the Revolution into a war that defends slavery. The southern states were incredibly outspoken in their beliefs towards maintaining traditional racial customs, and persecuting the African-Americans and enslaved blacks. Southerners “convinced the Continental Congress to instruct General Washington to February 1776 to enlist no more African-Americans, free or enslaved” (173). When the thirteen colonies created the Continental Congress and the newly formed states emerged, the hesitation to give this racial minority an increase in freedom expanded. The American elite abstained from increasing enslaved and free black’s democracy during the Revolutionary War, ultimately causing these people to shift support from the Patriots to the Loyalists. However, in 1865, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which reflected Britain’s notions of equality and liberty, states that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude...shall exist within the United States”
I’m writing my paper on Music Therapy, and how music affects the mind and body, to treat various illnesses. Music therapy is the prescribed use of music under the direction of specially trained therapists to influence changes in negative conditions and behavior. It accomplishes this by maintaining and restoring mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health .One type of theory is the idea that music, movement, and speech are inseparable. Music evokes unconscious thoughts and feelings, which in turn expand self-awareness. Music therapy is a powerful and non-invasive form of sensory stimulation which provokes responses due to the familiarity, predictability, and feelings of security associated with it. In some medical settings such as mental health services, it has been used to decrease patient’s perception of pain, anxiety and depression. ICU patients listening to music showed a significant decrease in blood pressure. It has been shown to calm the patient and to relax their mind and body. Music eases the burden on the arteries and nerves through relaxation. Du...
In Foundation of the Metaphysics of Morals Immanuel Kant presents three propositions of morality. In this paper I am going to explain the first proposition of morality that Kant states. Then I will assert a possible objection to Kant’s proposition by utilizing an example he uses known as the sympathetic person. Lastly, I will show a defense Kant could use against the possible objection to his proposition.
Kant’s moral philosophy is built around the formal principles of ethics rather than substantive human goods. He begins by outlining the principles of reasoning that can be equally expected of all rational persons regardless of their individual desires or partial interests. It creates an ideal universal community of rational individuals who can collectively agree on the moral principles for guiding equality and autonomy. This is what forms the basis for contemporary human rig...
If we desire X, we ought to do Y. However, categorical imperatives are not subject to conditions. The Categorical Imperative is universally binding to all rational creatures because they are rational. Kant proposes three formulations: the Categorical Imperative in his Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morality, the Universal Law formulation, Humanity or End in Itself formulation, and Kingdom of Ends formulation. In this essay, the viability of the Universal Law formulation is tested by discussing two objections to it, mainly the idea that the moral laws are too absolute and the existence of false positives and false negatives.
In the 20th century, its formal use came to be, during World War I and II musicians started to play music in hospitals to raise the moral of the people. These people had notable physical and emotional responses to music, which led the doctors and nurses to hire more musicians. (1) In its early stages of this therapy music was used to promote the well-being of the individuals, create a positive outlook on what had happened, to foster emotional expression and support, express what they were feeling, build personal relationships, interact socially, and support other forms of learning. Even though these people got better, there was not enough evidence that these people were healed by music.