Kant, Categorical Imperative, And The Deontological Argument

Immanuel Kant, the Categorical Imperative, and the Deontological Argument Kant describes the categorical imperative as a universal law, one that is formed from a collective agreement. That agreement is further clarified by Kant; â€Å"I ought never to act except in such a way that I can also will that my maxim should become universal law.† Basically, we should not do something to others that we do not want done on ourselves. Through this idea, we can evaluate questions like â€Å"Is it ever acceptable to tell a lie?† I will argue that it is indeed acceptable to tell lies within certain circumstances, and that Kant’s deontological argument holds many exceptions. Before I start the exploring into our question, I first want to talk about Kant’s†¦show more content†¦Recall that Kant defines the categorical imperative as â€Å"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.† (A bible quote, I believe). Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of the person asking the question. If we asked the question with honesty, seeking the truth, then the person answering should answer truthfully. However, you can also ask the question in a rhetorical way (teenagers do it all the time). In this situation, what the person wants is not the truth, but rather a playful response, and since we should be treating others the same way we would want to be treated, we would go along and be playful in this context of the question. The point is, the one question, â€Å"Does this dress make me look fat?†, isn’t necessarily limited to a single circumstance. I only gave two possible contexts of which the question may appear, but there can easily be indefinite amounts of possible contexts, and this applies to any question/situation. Another instance where lying is universal exists within the situation we all know as â€Å"job interviews.† And it’s not just the interviewee, the interviewer tends to lie as well. The intervie w lie is so common that it might as well be a universal law (categorical imperative, anyone?). Before I continue, here’s a disclaimer. I want to clarify that the â€Å"interview lie† is just a truth stretched to such extent that it become misleading and strays awayShow MoreRelatedThe Long Standing Debate On Ethics1253 Words   |  6 Pagesgood or bad. John Stuart Mill focuses on a utilitarian perspective and utilizes the idea of consequentialism and on the other hand, Immanuel Kant avoids the consequentialist argument and supports a deontological perspective in analyzing morality and ethics. Both arguments, valid as they may be, strongly contradict one another, mostly on the basis that Kant and Mill look at very different parts of the equation. 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