PHIL 2010H Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Categorical Imperative

• School: University of Georgia
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHIL 2010H
• Professor: Preston

Document Summary

Kant: acting out of duty to the moral law is what gives actions their moral worth. So the only unqualifiedly good thing is a good will-- the intention to choose duty to the moral law over inclination, regardless of the consequences of the action. What the moral law is in any specific circumstance can be determined by any rational being using the categorical imperative test. Mill: the promotion of happiness is what gives actions their moral worth. So the (foreseeable?) consequences of your action in terms of happiness and unhappiness determine its moral worth. Mill: the moral worth of an action is determined by its foreseeable consequences for happiness. Advantage: others can tell what the moral worth of an agent"s action is by assessing its foreseeable consequences for happiness. Moreover, we can have moral obligations to non-human animals, assuming we agree that they experience pleasure and pain.