David Hume discusses morality in his work, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. While many, including Hume, mistake his approach for morality as ethics, Hume is really describing behavior, which is a psychological task. Immanuel Kant observes the mis-classification, and discusses Hume and the matter in his work, Critique of Pure Reason. Hume and Kant’s views ...
In the view of 18th-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724 – 1804), all individuals possess a “rational free will” and are capable of recognizing the three pillars of morality — God, freedom, and immortality — and acting accordingly with them. Kant recognizes that every intended deed is purposeful and selected by its commissioner. According to ...
The word deontology comes from the root “deon” meaning “duty.” By definition it suggests that we are obligated to live by certain rules that dictate what is right and what is wrong. Deontologists accept these rules freely and don’t look at the consequences of specific acts but the nature of the acts themselves. In accepting ...
Kant’s philosophy has always been studied in the Western philosophical circles there is a large body of is a product of the late 19th century, 200 years later,it will soon become history as we have been standing on the threshold of the 21st century. Recalling the 20th century, schools of philosophy are overwhelming, and we ...
Immanuel Kant was a great philosopher of his time and continues to be an influential figure in the realm of theology and epistemology. Additionally, he is one of the latter philosophers of the Enlightment. He challenged the structure of reason by expanding the traditional thoughts on metaphysics – not only by the formulation of moral ...
Immanuel Kant was an influential philosopher that placed moral worth in the good intentions of a person in performing an action rather than the consequences of the action — such ethics that appeal to duty and obligation rather than practical concerns are known as deontological ethics. The moral law that all objective reasoning would lead ...
When a choice is made, often the question is asked: “was it the right decision?”. For thousands of years, humans have struggled with the idea of the morality of their actions. This has resulted in a multitude of belief systems regarding the nature of actions. In the system of Utilitarianism, the ends justify the means, ...
The view of self largely depends on a person’s metaphysical beliefs. Some people believe that the body is the one true self, while others believe that the body is composed of different aspects, such as the soul, spirit, and physical body (and yes there is a difference between soul and spirit). Kant’s view of self ...
Act as if the principle of your action were to become by your will a universal law of nature (Rohmann, 1999). This idea really sums up Immanuel Kant‘s view of ethics. Kant surmised that ethical decisions should be focused on the motive for the decision rather than the benefits or rewards of the action. In ...
In Philosophy, there are two main positions about the source of all knowledge. These positions are called rationalism and empiricism. Rationalists believe that all knowledge is “innate”, or is there when one is born, and that learning comes from intuition. On the other hand, empiricists believe that all knowledge comes from direct sense experience. In ...