Essay/Term paper: Kant: the universal law formation of the categorical imperative

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Philosophy Essays

Kant: the Universal Law Formation of the Categorical Imperative


Kantian philosophy outlines the Universal Law Formation of the
Categorical Imperative as a method for determining morality of actions. This
formula is a two part test. First, one creates a maxim and considers whether the
maxim could be a universal law for all rational beings. Second, one determines
whether rational beings would will it to be a universal law. Once it is clear
that the maxim passes both prongs of the test, there are no exceptions. As a
paramedic faced with a distraught widow who asks whether her late husband
suffered in his accidental death, you must decide which maxim to create and
based on the test which action to perform. The maxim "when answering a widow's
inquiry as to the nature and duration of her late husbands death, one should
always tell the truth regarding the nature of her late husband's death" (M1)
passes both parts of the Universal Law Formation of the Categorical Imperative.
Consequently, according to Kant, M1 is a moral action.
The initial stage of the Universal Law Formation of the Categorical
Imperative requires that a maxim be universally applicable to all rational
beings. M1 succeeds in passing the first stage. We can easily imagine a world in
which paramedics always answer widows truthfully when queried. Therefore, this
maxim is logical and everyone can abide by it without causing a logical
impossibility. The next logical step is to apply the second stage of the test.
The second requirement is that a rational being would will this maxim to
become a universal law. In testing this part, you must decide whether in every
case, a rational being would believe that the morally correct action is to tell
the truth. First, it is clear that the widow expects to know the truth. A lie
would only serve to spare her feelings if she believed it to be the truth.
Therefore, even people who would consider lying to her, must concede that the
correct and expected action is to tell the truth. By asking she has already
decided, good or bad, that she must know the truth.
What if telling the truth brings the widow to the point where she
commits suicide, however? Is telling her the truth then a moral action although
its consequence is this terrible response? If telling the widow the truth
drives her to commit suicide, it seems like no rational being would will the
maxim to become a universal law. The suicide is, however, a consequence of your
initial action. The suicide has no bearing, at least for the Categorical
Imperative, on whether telling the truth is moral or not. Likewise it is
impossible to judge whether upon hearing the news, the widow would commit
suicide. Granted it is a possibility, but there are a multitude of alternative
choices that she could make and it is impossible to predict each one. To decide
whether rational being would will a maxim to become a law, the maxim itself must
be examined rationally and not its consequences. Accordingly, the maxim passes
the second test.
Conversely, some people might argue that in telling the widow a lie,
you spare her years of torment and suffering. These supporters of "white lies"
feel the maxim should read, "When facing a distraught widow, you should lie in
regards to the death of her late husband in order to spare her feelings."
Applying the first part of the Universal Law Formation of the Categorical
Imperative, it appears that this maxim is a moral act. Certainly, a universal
law that prevents the feelings of people who are already in pain from being hurt
further seems like an excellent universal law. Unfortunately for this line of
objection, the only reason a lie works is because the person being lied to
believes it to be the truth. In a situation where every widow is lied to in
order to spare her feelings, then they never get the truth. This leads to a
logical contradiction because no one will believe a lie if they know it a lie
and the maxim fails.
Perhaps the die-hard liar can regroup and test a narrower maxim. If it
is narrow enough so that it encompasses only a few people, then it passes the
first test. For example, the maxim could read, "When facing a distraught widow
whose late husband has driven off a bridge at night, and he struggled to get out
of the car but ended up drowning, and he was wearing a brown suit and brown
loafers, then you should tell the widow that he died instantly in order to spare
her feelings." We can easily imagine a world in which all paramedics lied to
widows in this specific situation.
That does not necessarily mean that it will pass the second test however.
Even if it does pass the first test, narrowing down maxim can create other
problems. For instance circumstances may change and the people who were
originally included in the universal law, may not be included anymore.
Consequently you many not want to will your maxim to be a universal law.
Likewise, if one person can make these maxims that include only a select group
of people, so can everyone else. If you create a maxim about lying to widows
that is specific enough to pass the first test, so can everyone else. One must
ask if rational beings would really will such a world in which there would be
many, many specific, but universal, laws. In order to answer this question, one
must use the rational "I" for the statement "I, as a rational being would will
such a world," not the specific, embodied "I" which represents you in your
present condition. You must consider that you could be the widow in the
situation rather than the paramedic, then decide whether you would will such a
universal law.
I agree with the morality based on Kantian principles because it is
strict in its application of moral conduct. Consequently there is no vacillating
in individual cases to determine whether an action is moral or not. An action is
moral in itself not because of its consequences but because any rational being
wills it to be a universal law and it does not contradict itself. Regardless of
what the widow does with the information, the act of telling her the truth, is a
moral one. No one would argue that telling the truth, if she asks for it, is an
immoral thing to do. Sometimes moral actions are difficult, and perhaps in this
situation it would be easier to lie to the widow, but it would still be an
immoral action that I would not want everyone to do. This picture of morality
resonates with my common sense view of morality. If the widow subsequently
commits suicide or commits any other immoral act as a consequence, that has no
bearing on the morality of the original action in itself.
Utilitarianism would differ on this point. Utilitarianism outlines that
an action is moral if it increases the total happiness of society. Morality is
based on consequences. Telling a lie to the widow would increase her happiness
and consequently would, at least possibly, be a moral action. Utilitarianism
would also take into account the precedent set by lying; however, the analysis
still rests on predicted consequence rather than on the action's intrinsic moral
value. The morality of telling the lie is on a case by case basis. In some
situations, it might be better to tell the truth, and according to
utilitarianism that would then be the moral action. Unlike Kantian philosophy,
one is not bound by an immutable universal law. Instead one must judge in each
case which action will produce the most overall happiness. The problem with this
approach is that morality loses any value as a universal or intrinsic quality.
Every decision is made on an individual basis in an individual and specific
situation. In fact, utilitarianism considers happiness to be the only
intrinsically valuable end.
Defenders of utilitarianism claim that it maintains universality by
considering the greatest happiness of all beings, rather than just individual
happiness. Still, the morality is based on constantly changing and often
unpredictable consequences. The requirement that one consider all of the
consequences of an action and determine the best possible action through such
calculations makes me reject utilitarianism as a method of determining morality.
Although utilitarianism often offers the easier solution to perform
because it produces immediate gratification and allows many exceptions to common
sense moral codes, the answers it gives are unfilling and unrealistic.
Furthermore, it is difficult, if not impossible, to make all of the required
calculations beforehand. Kant's solution, although as interpreted by Kant is
sometimes overly extreme, is much better than utilitarianism. It resonates with
my moral sensibilities to consider that actions are moral or immoral regardless
of their immediate consequences. I am willing to accept that sometimes the moral
action is harder to perform, but I am unwilling to accept that morality rests
within the specifics of a situation and the possible consequences. Therefore, I
consider Kant's Universal Law Formation of the Categorical Imperative to be a
better test of morality than Mill's Utilitarianism.