The Ethics Of Kantian Ethics - 3078 Words

The impact of Kantian ethics has been truly extensive in the philosophical community for centuries now. Numerous philosophers have accepted, disputed and further developed the Kantian style of ethics in the modern era. German philosopher Immanuel Kant has established a theory based on a simple few concepts. Some of the key features of this theory are intrinsic goodness, moral worth and a few others that I will establish further later in the essay. In this thesis I will be highlighting if consequences play a sufficiently important role in Kantian ethics. I will argue the case that according to Kant, consequences do not play a sufficient enough role in his ethics, however I will be giving praise to some ideas he does bring up but I feel†¦show more content†¦One question that must be addressed is what exactly are moral consequences? What do consequences contain? According to Kantian ethics, the problem with consequences is that that they are constantly out of our hands and ve ry unpredictable. A quote that highlights the conflict with consequences can be found in Kant’s text. ‘Even if by a special disfavor of fortune or by the niggardly provision of a step motherly nature, this will should wholly lack the capacity to carry out its purpose--if with its greatest efforts it should achieve nothing and only the good will were left†¦.then, like a jewel, it would still shine by itself, as something that has full worth in itself’ Kant, I (2012). What the quote expresses is that it makes reference to the good will. If an individual’s ‘will’ is pure and in line with what is morally right, it will shine through regardless of the consequence or outcome. There are also a few others things that must be taken into account like intent and reason. When we discuss moral law we are only talking about the maxim, due to the uncertainty of predicting consequences. Immanuel Kant’s literature titled practical philosophy contains numerous writings on his approach to moral philosophy. A chapter titled ‘on a supposed right to lie from philanthropy’ is a segment from the book in which Kant deals with the problem regarding duty and