An Argument Against Non Naturalism

Nidich, R. J., Nidich, S. I., & Alexander, C. N. (2005). Moral Development and Natural

Kant's deontological moral theory also claims that the right action in any given situation is determined by the categorical imperative, which provides a formulation by which we can apply our human reason to determine the right and rational thing to do, which is our duty to do it. This imperative applies to all rational beings independent of their desires and that reason tells us to follow no matter what. By his categorical imperative we

According to Kant, imperatives are principles determining what individuals should do. These imperatives may be divided as those which are categorical, and those which are hypothetical; the former expresses imperatives that are those

Immanuel Kant's categorical imperative is a theory that basically relays the same message that most mothers teach their kids, and that is to do the right thing. The categorical imperative could be easily explained by the Golden Rule about treating others as you would like to be treated. Kant dives a little deep with his theory, however, and breaks the categorical imperative into three formulations. The first formulation is about essentially removing yourself from a situation and doing what is best for everyone. Kant is basically saying that it is unethical to make decisions that affect everyone, but only benefits you. The second formulation is about making sure that

Kant had a different ethical system which was based on reason. According to Kant reason was the fundamental authority in determining morality. All humans possess the ability to reason, and out of this ability comes two basic commands: the hypothetical imperative and the categorical imperative. In focusing on the categorical imperative, in this essay I will reveal the underlying relationship between reason and duty.

On the other hand, there are few to none examples of a Categorical Imperative, because as Kant would believe, they have to be actions that are good in themselves completely. To arrive at the Categorical Imperative, Kant starts off by explaining that an action is good without qualification if done from duty and not primarily from inclination, or ulterior motives. This, in a more simplified manner, means an action is good if it was the right thing to do and a person did it for the sake of duty and not because of anything else, like instincts or feelings. Kant believes there are very few people in this world that can actually live up to the standard of duty. From this point, Kant states that moral worth is determined by the rule or principle by which an action has been decided, not in the purpose to be attained by it. This statement goes back to the difference of means versus ends; is a person’s action based on the mean or is it based on ends? After Kant arrives at this, he then affirms that duty is the reverence for the law. The difference between reason and will is established at this point. Reason, or thought, can be described as theoretical or pure reason, or it can be described as practical reason. Kant describes theoretical reason as determining a given concept, but practical reason is idea of making the concept actual. Will, on the other side, can be broken down to either the “holy will” or empirically mixed

Mankind must by this time have acquired positive beliefs as to the effects of some actions on their happiness; and the beliefs which have thus come down are the rules of morality for the multitude, and for the philosopher until he has succeeded in finding better. That philosophers might easily do this, even now, on many subjects; that the received code of ethics is by no means of divine right;

another flaw in the belief of naturalism is that there is no real thought or soul. Because of this there would be no need for ethics or morals because if we have no control over our own thought because they are not real than we cant be responsible for our own actions. If this is true than we should not be sending criminals to prisons because they did not truly commit the crimes themselves.

Kant’s philosophy was based around the theory that we have a moral unconditional obligation and duty that he calls the “Categorical Imperative.” He believes that an action must be done with a motive of this moral obligation, and if not done with this intention then the action would hold no moral value. Under this umbrella of the “Categorical Imperative” he presents three formulations that he believes to be about equal in importance, relevance, and could be tested towards any case. The first formulation known as the Formula of Universal Law consists of a methodical way to find out morality of actions. The second formulation is known as

Deontology is the ethical view that some actions are morally forbidden or permitted regardless of consequences. One of the most influential deontological philosophers in history is Immanuel Kant who developed the idea of the Categorical Imperative. Kant believed that the only thing of intrinsic moral worth is a good will. Kant says in his work Morality and Rationality “The good will is not good because of what it affects or accomplishes or because of it’s adequacy to achieve some proposed end; it is good only because of it’s willing, i.e., it is good of itself”. A maxim is the generalized rule that characterizes the motives for a person’s actions. For Kant, a will that is good is one that is acting by

A clear objection to synthetic naturalism would be the open question argument. The open question argument suggests that moral properties are different from natural properties only if two terms are considered synonymous because they share the same property. (MOORE)

As in the beginning of the essay it says that when one says something is good, they are saying it is as it should be that they fulfil their functional need. Foot emphasizes the concept of should which is reason. When someone should do something that means they have reason to do something. For instance, it would be in a person best interest to see an ophthalmologist yearly; therefore, the person has reason to see the ophthalmologist which is natural goodness because it pertains to flourishing and the possibility of happiness. Through this theory it gives a laid back view of what is natural goodness or what is right and wrong that people should act upon. And for lack of better words it gives a natural expectation of humans for instance that we all play a role is life and that we should be a part of society. For those who want to say that their goodness is to act wrongly because it fulfils their need for happiness they will still be held accountable because the natural goodness states “it is as it should

Natural law has a lot of strength and weaknesses, but what is natural law in the first place? Natural law is a universal guide for judging the moral values of our choices, and looks at human in a way that says we at the end of the day know the right thing to do. Weaknesses for natural law are many, one of them is to see good automatically found in nature but the question begs to be asked is everything in nature actually good. Aquinas thought that all people searched for God and this is why they found good, but that wasn’t true back then and definitely isn’t true now. Another weakness is that having babies is important in natural law so does this mean that people who are incapable of having babies our unnatural. It is believed that moral

Immanuel Kant concerns himself with deontology, and as a deontologist, he believes that the rightness of an action depends in part on things other than the goodness of its consequences, and so, actions should be judged based on an intrinsic moral law that says whether the action is right or wrong – period. Kant introduced the Categorical Imperative which is the central philosophy of his theory of morality, and an understandable approach to this moral law. It is divided into three formulations. The first formulation of Kant’s Categorical Imperative states that one should “always act in such a way that the maxim of your action can be willed as a universal law of humanity”; an act is either right or wrong based on its ability to be

“In the human being (as the only rational creature on earth), those natural predispositions aimed at the use of its reason are to be developed in full
only in the species, but not in the individual. This can be interpreted in my perspective as genes. Since we are not immortal we must practice and perfect our skills, and by natures will, we pass our perfected genes on to the next generation so they may further perfect the skill in hopes of finding insight or enlightenment. If this is not to be nature’s purpose for us, our natural capacities should be seen as “without direction” and useless.