Emmanuel Kant's Deontological Ethics

© Michael Lacewing

Kant’s deontological ethics

DEONTOLOGY

Deontologists believe that morality is a matter of duty. We have moral

duties to do things which it is right to do and moral duties not to do things

which it is wrong to do. Whether something is right or wrong doesn’t depend

on its consequences. Rather, an action is right or wrong in itself.

Most deontological theories recognise two classes of duties. First, there are

general duties we have towards anyone. These are mostly prohibitions, e.g.

do not lie, do not murder. But some may be positive, e.g. help people in

need. Second, there are duties we have because of our particular personal

or social relationships. If you have made a promise, you have a duty to

keep it. If you are a parent, you have a duty to provide for your children.

And so on.

We each have duties regarding our own actions. I have a duty to keep my

promises, but I don’t have a duty to make sure promises are kept. Deontology

claims that we should each be most concerned with complying with our

duties, not attempting to bring about the most good. In fact, all

deontologists agree that there are times when we should not maximise the

good, because doing so would be to violate a duty. Most deontologists also

argue that we do not have a duty to maximise the good, only a duty to do

something for people in need. As this illustrates, many deontologists think

our duties are quite limited. While there are a number of things we may not

do, we are otherwise free to act as we please.

Actions and intentions

Deontology says that certain types of action are right or wrong. How do we

distinguish types of action? For example, a person may kill someone else. A

conventional description of the action is ‘a killing’. But not all ‘killings’ are

the same type of action, morally speaking. If the person intended to kill

someone, i.e. that is what they wanted to bring about, that is very different

than if the killing was accidental or if the...