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The categorical imperative is the central philosophical concept in the deontological moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant. Introduced in Kant's 1785 Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, it is a way of evaluating motivations for action. It is best known in its original formulation: "Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law."
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In ethical philosophy, altruism is an ethical doctrine that holds that the moral value of an individual's actions depends solely on the impact of those actions on other individuals, regardless of the consequences for the actor. James Fieser states the altruist dictum as:
"An action is morally right if the consequences of that action are more favorable than unfavorable to everyone except the agent."
Kantian ethics refers to a deontological ethical theory developed by German philosopher Immanuel Kant that is based on the notion that "I ought never to act except in such a way that I could also will that my maxim should become a universal law." It is also associated with the idea that "it is impossible to think of anything at all in the world, or indeed even beyond it, that could be considered good without limitation except a good will." The theory was developed in the context of Enlightenment rationalism. It states that an action can only be moral if it is motivated by a sense of duty, and its maxim may be rationally willed a universal, objective law.
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Elizabeth Secor Anderson is an American philosopher. She is Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and John Dewey Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy and Women's Studies at the University of Michigan and specializes in political philosophy, ethics, and feminist philosophy.
References
- ↑ "Politics as a Vocation" (PDF).
- ↑ Originally a speech at Munich University, 1918. Published as "Politik als Beruf," (Munich: Duncker & Humblodt, 1919). Later in Max Weber, Gesammelte Politische Schriften (Munich, 1921), 396-450. In English: H.H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills, trans. and ed., in Max Weber: Essays in Sociology (New York: Oxford University Press, 1946), 77-128.
- ↑ Swedberg, Richard; Agevall, Ola (2016). The Max Weber Dictionary: Key Words and Central Concepts (Second ed.). Stanford University Press. pp. 122–123. doi:10.1515/9781503600225. ISBN 978-1-5036-0022-5. OCLC 956984918.
- ↑ Koshul, Basit Bilal (2014). Max Weber and Charles Peirce: At the Crossroads of Science, Philosophy, and Culture. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. p. 42. ISBN 9780739178003.
- ↑ Zigon, Jarrett (2008). Morality: An Anthropological Perspective. Oxford: Berg. p. 39. ISBN 9781845206598.
- ↑ Turner, Stephen P.; Factor, Regis A. (2007). Max Weber and the Dispute over Reason and Value. Oxon: Routledge. p. 2. ISBN 9780415402132.
