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.
