Kant's C.I.

4 Pages 906 Words

Immanuel Kant bases ethics on the autonomy of good will. Kant attempted to figure out the way we act according to our ability for free choice. Autonomy is any act that is done because of our own free choice. Kant views ethics as an intrinsic good rather than and an instrumental good, or as a good that is built-in and is internal. So anything that you do is done because you decide that it can be accounted for publicly as correct or right. According to Kant, certain acts are morally right if they accompanied by good will, and we are morally good only if we act from duty. Acting morally is not enough according to our duty, we must act only because it is our duty. Kant believes that our main goal in thinking is to reason. In reasoning we come up with objective maxims with which we adjust our personal maxims which we intern use. We are able to step outside of a certain situation and act in a way which is a determined way that we ought to act. We need to look at ourselves critically and reflect so we can see ourselves through the views of others. So when considering a certain choice we have to make, we first think of how that choice will look publicly. We then make the choice according to whether it will be accepted or not. Because of this, people realize what they are doing and can be held accountable for the decisions as well as their actions. To Kant, virtue lies in the good will of us rather than any certain end to be achieved, while good will is shown in the performance of an action for the sake of carrying out a duty rather than for some other end. Humans may act as subjects of free will, but the effect of autonomy is morality. A maxim is something that is accepted on its own merits and relates to moral law in that one makes choices according to God as right or wrong. So if we are considering a choice to be publicly accepted we are really considering whether it would be considered right or wrong by God since that is ho...