Ethics Discussion Project

Applying Kant's Categorical Imperative

Part I: Application

Note: Each group will be assigned a hypothetical case from the ‘Cases for Discussion” handout. Notice that in each case there is some particular action that the person is thinking of doing or wondering whether to do. For example, in case #1 the woman is thinking about lying to the sales clerk; in case #3 the man is wondering whether he should tell the woman what he has learned; and so on. Take that action as the focus for answering the following questions.

1. How might you best formulate the rule (or maxim) that the person is proposing to follow? (Note: in order to answer this question you will need to decide how best to characterize the course of action they are considering. Which features of the case are morally important? At what level of generality is it best described? How many of the details of the case need to be included in order to get it into proper ethical focus?)

2. Does this rule pass the test set up by Kant's Categorical Imperative? That is, is it a rule which one can consistently will to be a universal law? Or, in other words, is it a rule which one can reasonably want everyone to follow whenever they are faced with similar circumstances? (If not, explain why not.) Remember that there are two ways that a maxim can fail the test: it can be literally inconceivable or impossible that everyone would follow the maxim (the lying example); or it can be conceivable but not 'willable', i.e., not rationally desirable, because it would conflict with something else I necessarily want (the refusing to ever help others example).

3. What rule (or maxim) would they be following if they decided not do what they are thinking about doing?

4. Does that rule pass the test of the Categorical Imperative? (If not, explain why not.)

5. Considering your answers to questions 2 and 4, is the proposed action forbidden, permissible or required, from a Kantian point of view?

(An action is forbidden, if its maxim fails the test. If it passes the test\, then the action is permissible. An action is required when the maxim which tells you not to do it fails the test.)

Part II: Evaluating the Theory

1. Did Kant’s theory enable you to come up with a definite answer to the ethical difficulty posed by the case you were considering? (Were you able to answer the questions and to do so in a way that did not seem arbitrary or artificial?)

2. If so, did the answer suggested by the theory seem to you to be a sound one? Did it square with your own intuitions about the case?

3. Does it seem to you as if there are important aspects of your case that Kant’s theory fails to address?