Kant / Kant - Tutorial Preparation Sheet

L ecture 9 – Kant

1. Background questions:

1. Are your feelings a good guide to what is right or wrong? Why or why not?

2. What do you think is meant by a ‘Duty’? Give some examples of duties (not from the lecture.)

3. What are imperatives? Give an example of a hypothetical imperative and a categorical imperative (not given in the lecture.)

4. All moral duties are actually categorical imperatives that are derivable from The Categorical Imperative. What is The Categorical Imperative? How does Kant argue that this is The Categorical Imperative?

2. Tutorial discussion questions:

5. Kant says that only a Good Will can be called absolutely good. What does he mean by this, and why does he think this?

6. How would you use The Categorical Imperative to determine whether stealing/lying/breaking promises is or is not allowed?

7. There are other forms of The Categorical Imperative. The one we’ve been looking at is the Principle of Universal Law. What’s the Principle of Ends version?

8. Kant says we can only be free if we are moral. What does he mean by this and why does he think that this is true?