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Kantian Morality

 

            Kant's theory of morality seems to function as the most feasible in .
             determining one's duty in a moral situation. The basis for his theory is .
             perhaps the most noble of any-- acting morally because doing so is morally .
             right. His ideas, no matter how occasionally vague or overly rigid, work .
             easily and efficiently in most situations. Some exceptions do exist, but the .
             strength of those exceptions may be somewhat diminished by looking at the .
             way the actual situations are presented and the way in which they are .
             handled. But despite these exceptions, the process Kant describes of .
             converting maxims to universal laws to test their moral permissibility serves, .
             in general, as a useful guide to and system of ethics and morality.
             The Kantian Theory of Ethics hinges upon the concept of the .
             Categorical Imperative, or the process of universalization. Kant describes .
             taking a possible action, a maxim, and testing whether it is morally .
             permissible for a person to act in that manner by seeing if it would be .
             morally permissible for all people in all times to act in that same .
             manner. Thus, Kant says that an action is morally permissible in one .
             instance if the action is universally permissible in all instances. In fact, parts .
             of the theory even say that it is one's moral duty to act on these .
             universalizable maxims, and that people should only act on those maxims .
             that can be universalized. .
             The stability of Kant's theory rests not only on the fact that it is .
             completely objective-- every action is definitely either morally permissible .
             or not-- but also on the fact that the theory is non-consequentialist. Kant .
             truly does not look to the consequences of an action to see whether the .
             action is morally permissible, but rather to the morality of the action itself. .
             Kant assumes that universal morality is inherent in being, thus avoiding .
             complications in trying to determine which actions lead to better .
             consequences.


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