Kants Formula of Universal Law - Essay Example

Kant’s Formula of Universal Law Introduction Immanuel Kant lived between 1724 and 1804. He introduced the concept of categorical imperative which dictates the moral requirements for a person living in a given society. The categorical imperative is a moral requirement that is based on a standard of rationality. According to k ant the society needed to abide to the ethics that were set and bound to govern it and any one doing against it or engaging in acts of immorality was violating the already set code for the society. This is what constitutes the Kant’s formula for universal law. Kant in his study and aligning his argument to that of the earlier philosophers argued that an analysis of the practical reason will only be important in revealing the way rational agents are supposed to conform to the instrumental principles set in that given society (Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy). This work will address Kant’s formula of universal law and then using it we shall be able to critique his line of thought, object the critique and also offer a response to the whole argument. This work may borrow lightly from the work of other philosophers as the arguments raised in the work coincides with that produced by a number of other philosophers. What they have in common is the description of how the society is guided by the maxims that are defined or set by the people and which stand as the universal law in that given society. Argument This section will consider the argument of Immanuel Kant, the German philosopher and be able to establish its strengths in our way of supporting it and showing its practicality in the society that we are living in. This is addressing the first section of the question that calls for the development of an argument from Kant’s Formula of Universal Law. Kant’s work was critical in the development of the concept of universal law. In his work, he creates an argument that the fundamental concepts are the ones which plat a key role in structuring the human experience and also that morality is grown and cultured by the need to have a reason in doing whatever is supposed to be done at any given time. This can be better explained by looking at a scenario where one is supposed to do or to make a critical judgement say regarding his life or the wellbeing of the society. In such a case it will be prudent to be driven by reason to ensure that the decision that one makes is the best in reflecting and addressing the needs of the people and also the individual. In this work, Kant is able to address a fundamental argument that is critical in understanding the way human beings make their decisions and the tools that are used in shaping the morals in any given society. The morality in a society is mainly created by the maxim or the thoughts of the people and the way they are able to conduct themselves without being followed in any given moment. Before Kant did this work, philosophers relied on the work of David Hume in defining the relationship between reason and human experience. This is one of the most important things that are used to define how a person will thing and execute a decision at any given moment and the uniformity that is used to define a certain society since they have a synchronized way of thinking and doing their things. It is important to note that in his work Kant tries to establish this relationship t help know what creates the morals in a given society and what defines such kind of thinking. In this exemplary work, he is able to address the flaws of ancient philosophy and the inadequacy of metaphysics. In his work he strongly resists the scepticism of philosophers such as Hume who were instrumental in defining the philosophy in that age. In explaining how the mind works and the way we create our experiences, he says that the experiences that we have been through and the way they are structured are shaped by the mind. This is done on an abstract level and on top of this, all human experiences share fundamental structural features. This is possible since the decisions and the experiences that people go through are more likely the same at many instances. After going through such and being guided by reason in the making of the decisions, one realizes that the making of the decisions is more common among all the individuals that may be taken for the samples. This is used in the argument created by Immanuel Kant in his work Critique of Pure Reason. Kant is able to resolve the disputes between empirical and rationalist approaches to the issue of the application of the universal law in any given society. In the work that had been done before him, it had been presumed that all the knowledge that a person possess is got from experience. However in his study and explaining the same he shows how morality is built as a matter of experience and the norms that are done in a certain society. He strictly says that knowledge is got not only from experience but also from reasoning critically in making decisions. Due to this one finds that in a given society, the people will tend to think in a similar way or a certain person will tend to behave in a certain way when confronted by a certain set of problems. This is good especially in explaining the idea in question where the universal law is defined as the product of the experiences in the society and the way such contributes in setting the morality in that specific society. Objection from Critique Immanuel Kant is instrumental in defining the way we get our knowledge and the relationship between it and the setting of the formula of universal law. From the argument that has been raised above we shall embark at looking at the strengths of his work and his weaknesses comparing his work to that of his predecessors such as David Hume. It is almost impossible to think of the work of Kant without first looking at the developments that had been done in the same field by the earlier philosophers. The aim of this work being to look at Kant’s formula of Universal Law, it is good to look at how he explains the concept of knowledge acquisition which is basic in setting the standards in any given society. The standards that are set are determined by the knowledge of the people and the way they are able to respond to the requirements in that specific society. Kant explains that unlike Hume who purports that knowledge is only got from experience, reason is the main way that we get it and he goes ahead to show how that is true. He gives his explanation by showing that in any given moment, people are faced by the task to make decisions or to make choices. The way one behaves creates the experiences in them and this will be instrumental in defining the way they will do the same in the coming days. This is true and he has the best way of explaining how we get the knowledge we have. However, this essay will not go into deeper details on the acquisition of knowledge as we only want to relate that with the formula of universal law. Kant’s work is guided by the inadequacy of the previous works that had been done in the field of philosophy by philosophers such as David Hume in explaining the source of our knowledge. Conclusion Kant is able to introduce the formula of universal law in a good way by using the acquisition of knowledge as a way of showing how people get the morals that are used to define a certain set of people. In any given society the people who are there are bound to follow a certain way that is better defined by the experiences and the ideologies that they subscribe to (Allison, 26). It is common to find that in that society the people have closely similar beliefs which are used to describe them. The Formula of Universal law is therefore projected to help understand how such people will behave and the dynamics that are used to define a given society. The main focus of the law is morality which is vital in any given society. Morality is a function of knowledge that the people have. If the people re fed with the wrong ideologies then the morality of that given society will definitely reflect such. That is why is important to explain the source of the knowledge that we have so that we go ahead and explain how it will affect the dynamics of the whole society. Cited Work Allison, H. (1990). Kant’s Theory of Freedom. New York: Cambridge. P. 23-54. Print. Read More