An attraction to the Kantian doctrines of obligation is begun along the following lines:

(1) If the purpose of life were just to achieve happiness, then we would all seek pleasure
and gratification and hope that these efforts would lead to happiness. However, happiness
is not totally within our power to achieve; to a large extent, happiness is a matter of luck.
(2) If we are to avoid nihilism and skepticism and if our ethics is to work, then Kant
thinks our ethics must be both unconditional (i.e.,no exceptions) and universal (i.e.,
applicable to all human beings).

I. The good will is the only good without qualification.

A. The good will is a will that acts from duty as a good-in-itself.1

B. Kant emphasizes these important considerations about duty:

1. The class of actions in accordance with duty must be distinguished from

the class of actions performed from duty.

2. Kant believes only actions performed from duty have moral worth. He
almost seems to suggest that the greater one's disinclination to act from
duty, the greater the result of the moral worth of the action.

a. If one performs an action by inclination alone, then Kant implies

the action has no moral worth.

b. Yet, consider Aristotle's assessment of the formation of character

through habit as explained in his Nichomachean Ethics. Isn't doing
the right action by inclination a more reliable sign of the presence
of an ethical character than by having to struggle in every decision
to do the right action?
E.g., suppose an acquaintance struggles with herself not to start

rumors about you but eventually decides not to do so. Should her
actions be valued more than the actions of another acquaintance
who is, by habit, fair to you?

c. Or as W.T. Stace points out, isn't it better to do one's duty

cheerfully than grudgingly?

II. Duty is the necessity of acting out of reverence for universal law. Moral value is
essentially established by the intention of the person acting.
A. Maxim: a particular directive, a subjective principle of volition (i.e.,the principle
or rule upon which one intentionaly acts). The nature of the maxim upon which an
action is based is the manner in which intentions are expressed. E.g., When I am
bored, I will do something different.

B. Hypothetical Imperative: a conditional maxim based on relative means/ends in

the everyday world or in every-day circumstances. The goal is not based on pure
reason alone but is usually based upon desire. E.g., If you want to be confident,
then study hard.

C. Categorical Imperative: a rule stating what ought to be done based upon pure
reason alone and not contingent upon sensible desires. I am never to act
otherwise than to will that my maxim should become universal law.
1. Moral rules, then for Kant, have no exceptions. Killing is always wrong.
Lying is always wrong.

2. This notion of ethics, then, is not based on consequences, as is the doctrine

for example in utilitarianism. Kant recognizes the consequences of our
decisions are not entirely within our control.

3. Yet, for Kant, is there a problem with event-description in following pure

practical reason? No two situations in our experience are exactly alike.

How much of a difference would make a difference in the various

applications of the Categorical Imperative?

4. For example, should the imperative I am never to take the life of another
human being with malice aforethought apply in the same manner in the
circumstances of an unlawful situation, a lawful situation, self-defense, or
wartime?
III. Practical Imperative: "Act to treat humanity, whether yourself or another, as an endin-itself and never as a means."
A. People are not to be used unjustifiably in order to obtain your goals or seek an
edge or unfair advantage.

B. People have rights which would supercede, for example, the tyranny of the
majority in utilitarianism.

C. How far should respect for persons proceed? What if you are constantly used by
other persons? Should you treat such persons as an end-in-themselves when you
are being mistreated? Does the practical imperative imply that we should seek
others' help to achieve our own goals?
Kant states we are not to treat others merely as a means.