What does Kant say about intentions?

Kant’s theory is categorized as one that focuses on and evaluates ‘intent’ rather than consequences because consequences of our actions cannot always be controlled by us.

What has moral value according to Kant?

Kant argues that one can have moral worth (i.e., be a good person) only if one is motivated by morality. In other words, if a person’s emotions or desires cause them to do something, then that action cannot give them moral worth. This may sound odd, but there is good reason to agree with Kant.

Why are intentions motivations essential for Kant?

According to Kant, the moral worth of an action consists not in the consequences that flow from it, but in the intention from which the act is done. What matters is the motive, and the motive must be of a cer- tain kind. And he insists that only actions done out of the motive of duty have moral worth.

What is the only kind of action that has moral worth According to Kant?

Kant claims that an action has moral worth only if it is done for the sake of duty. Kant argues that there is a single supreme principle of morality. According to Kant, it is always irrational to behave immorally. Kant claims that moral obligations are categorical imperatives.

What does Kant think is the fundamental principle of morality?

Kant calls the fundamental principle of morality the categorical imperative. A moral action produces something good; an immoral action produces a bad or harmful result. Deontology. Human beings sometimes have duties to perform certain actions, regardless of the consequences.

What does Kant think has value?

The one thing that has intrinsic value, for Kant, is the autonomous good will of a person. That said, Kant does not understand the expression “good will” in the everyday sense. In everyday discourse we might speak of someone being a person of good will if they want to do good things.

What does Kant think is the only thing of intrinsic moral worth?

Kant’s Moral Theory. Like Utilitarianism, Imannual Kant’s moral theory is grounded in a theory of intrinsic value. But where the utilitarian take happiness, conceived of as pleasure and the absence of pain to be what has intrinsic value, Kant takes the only think to have moral worth for its own sake to be the good will …

Why does Kant think that the only thing that could be considered good without limitation is a good will?

Kant says that the good will is the only thing “good without limitation” (ohne Einschränkung). A good will, Kant says, often fails to achieve the good ends at which it aims. But its own proper goodness is not diminished by this failure, or even by bad results that might flow from it (contrary to its volitions).

What does Kant claim is the supreme principle of morality?

Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) argued that the supreme principle of morality is a standard of rationality that he dubbed the “Categorical Imperative” (CI). This argument was based on his striking doctrine that a rational will must be regarded as autonomous, or free, in the sense of being the author of the law that binds it.

What is Kant’s theory of moral worth?

Kant’s theory of moral worth involves identifying the individual as the author of moral law. One acts morally, according to Kant, when one chooses to act in a way in which that person would expect all people to act (under those circumstances).

What is Kant’s theory of persons?

  Persons, conceived of as autonomous rational moral agents, are beings that have intrinsic moral worth.   This value of persons makes them deserving of moral respect.   Kant’s moral theory is often referred to as the “respect for persons” theory of morality. Kant calls his fundamental moral principle the Categorical Imperative.

Are our actions morally sound according to Kant?

If we intend the greatest possible good for the greatest possible number of people then our actions will always be morally sound for Kant. But a problem arises when we think that we know the consequences of our actions. This is hubris and arrogance. We can know our intentions, but in their overall context we can have no idea of the consequences.

What does Kant mean by duty and respect for moral law?

Duty and Respect for Moral Law. Only a universal law could be the content of a requirement that has the reason-giving force of morality. This brings Kant to a preliminary formulation of the CI: “I ought never to act except in such a way that I could also will that my maxim should become a universal law” (G 4:402).