Kants Humanity Formula - 1647 Words

Kant: The Humanity Formula Few formulas in philosophy have been so widely accepted and variously interpreted as Kants injunction to treat humanity as an end in itself(Hill, 38). Immanuel Kants views, as elucidated in his book, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, are based on the belief that people count by prohibiting actions which exploit other individuals in order for self-prosperity or altruistic ends. Ethics then, are confirmed by the dignity and worth of the rational agency of each person. Since human beings are the only rational beings capable of decision making and reasonable judgement, humanity must be valued. Kant proposes a test that ensures that humanity is treated with respect, and not used merely as an†¦show more content†¦Treating people only in ways to which they could consent, in so far as they are rational, not merely as means but also as an end, is a moral requirement. Say a young child has fallen onto a subway track and does not see the subway coming. You have the opport unity to alert the child of the oncoming train by grabbing a briefcase out of the hands of a man standing next to you and throwing it towards the child as to grab his or her attention. Kants theory holds that this action is morally permissible, assuming the man could rationally consent. The only downside to this is that the man must accept the minor inconvenience of having to buy a new briefcase and replacing the papers that were inside of the damaged one. What does this lead us to? Well some might question whether the man was treated respectively. The answer Kant offers for this is that he indeed was, seeing as how he only forfeited something one can attach a monetary value to, and as a result, saved a childs life. This brings us to Kants dignity versus price argument. Rational agents have a certain dignity that is incomparable to something with a price value. Above all, we should respect the value of our rationale. That which has dignity cannot be traded off for that which has price, and invariably, that which has dignity cannot be exchanged for other dignity values. A prime example of the latter part of argument is suicide inShow MoreRelated Kants Humanity Formula Essay1646 Words   |  7 PagesKants Humanity Formula   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Few formulas in philosophy have been so widely accepted and variously interpreted as Kant’s injunction to treat humanity as an end in itself†(Hill, 38). Immanuel Kant’s views, as elucidated in his book, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, are based on the belief that â€Å"people count† by prohibiting actions which exploit other individuals in order for self-prosperity or altruistic ends. Ethics then, are confirmed by the dignity and worth of the rational agencyRead MoreKant And The Categorical Imperative1177 Words   |  5 Pagesidea he called categorical imperative, which are commands you must follow, regardless of your desires. In Kant’s view, the categorical imperative is the voice of our rational selves, it’s what we all truly believe when we’re thinking sensibly, it’s the rule of our own intelligence gives us. We will discuss two of Kant’s formulations; The Universalization Formulatio n and The Formula of Humanity and the problems attached to each. The first formulation known as The Universalization Formulation statesRead MoreThree Formulations of the Categorical Imperative Essay examples1516 Words   |  7 PagesIn Kant’s book, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Kant talks about the three formulations of the categorical imperative. By these formulations, he describes his idea of organizing the moral principle for all rational beings. Kant also talks about the principles of humanity, rational ends, and the â€Å"realm of ends† which are constituted by the autonomous freedom of rational beings. The first formulation of the categorical imperative is â€Å"act only in a way the maxim of which can be consistentlyRead MoreKant s Categorical Imperative : The Formula Of Autonomy, And The Kingdom Of Ends1302 Words   |  6 Pages Kant’s Categorical Imperative changed the way many people view decision making and reasoning. Along with his theory, he also gave formulations in order to aid people in deciding whether a maxim leading to an action was moral. By applying these formulas, one has a better understanding of not only how decisions can affect moral law, but also an understanding of what sort of roles and powers humanity inherently possesses. There are four formulations: The Law of Nature, the Formula of Humanity, theRead MoreEssay on The Golden Rule in Kant and Mills Ethical Theories1320 Words   |  6 Pagesthat relate to human behaviour; with respect to their actions and purpose. The two most important philosophers that deal with ethics are Immanuel Kant and John S tuart Mill. Kant’s ethical theory is Kantianism or deontological ethics. Mill’s ethical theory is utilitarianism. Both philosophers’ theories have many differences; Kant’s theory deals with conduct, seeking reason for good action in duty. Mill’s theory deals with consequences and maximizing human happiness. However both Kant and Mill’s ethicsRead MoreThe Right to Lie by Christine Korsgaard1185 Words   |  5 Pagespermissible under one formulation of Kant’s categorical imperative yet not another. From this Korsgaard concludes that Kant’s formulations of Universal Law and of Humanity as an End in Itself are not equivalent, and that one is more strict than the other. In this paper I will present Korsgaards example and then use her interpretation of the Formulation of Universal Law to evaluate what it would prescribe as the correct responses to three additional cases. Under the Formula of Universal Law no maxim is permissibleRead MoreThe Trolley Problem Of The Monist1624 Words   |  7 Pagesinformed, intellectual application of his principles to The Trolley Problem and to determine the perspective Kant would most likely have. Shandon Guthrie interpreted Kant’s Categorical Imperative in The Examined Life On-Line Philosophy Journal. Guthrie begins with Kant’s concept of duty and good will in which Guthrie explains Kant’s thought of an unconditional obligation to do something for something else to occur, regardless of whether there will be credit awarded for the act or not (Guthrie 1)Read MoreJohn Stuart Mill s Utilitarianism And Immanuel Kant s Categorical Imperative1487 Words   |  6 Pagesasks questions of morality. There are a vast number of moral philosophies one can align themselves with, but two major categories of moral philosophy are the most popular and the most debated. These are John Stuart Mill’s Utilita rianism and Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative. In looking at the three trolley cases, one can align themselves with either Mill, Kant or create their own perspective. Utilitarianism is defended by Mill in his writing entitled Utilitarianism. This method of decipheringRead MoreThe Universal Law Of Nature877 Words   |  4 PagesThe Formula of the Universal Law (of Nature) is the first formulation of the categorical imperative in Kant’s â€Å"Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals,† in which he proposes to â€Å"act as if the maxim of your action were to become through your will a universal law of nature.† (Kant, 421) For example, telling the truth is considered a universal law. However, many skeptics argue that it is illogical because of human behavior, we as a society are put into dire situations in which lying is necessary toRead MoreSummary On Critique Of Practical Reason By Immanuel Kant1029 Words   |  5 Pagesmeans and ends, that humanity is a treated as an end in itself and never a means. This then transpires with the two types of imperatives: Hypothetical and Categorical. Hypothetical imperative is based on desi re, while categorical imperatives are based on just reason, regardless of the situation. Kant then gives us formulations to work out categorical imperatives. One being, the formula of Law and Nature, and the second being the formula of The Law of its End in itself. The formula of the Law of Nature

Equal Opportunity in United States Armed Forces...

The American Military is widely viewed as a pioneer in bestowing equal opportunity for all of its uniformed members. I am going to study the Equal Opportunity in United States Armed Forces with a particular emphasis on Minorities and Women in the Military. The United States Armed Forces has the most diverse labor force in the World. There are five branches of the United States Armed Forces: Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard. The demographic profile of the all volunteer United States Military has changed dramatically over the last 20 years. The transformation that has occurred in the United States population do not always reflect the changes in the Armys demographical environment. Todays Armed Forces is more†¦show more content†¦Since the introduction of that policy, most career fields (92 percent) have been opened to women. In conclusion, although the force is diverse, it is not an exact replica of society as a whole. The military quality of life is more e ye-catching for some members of society than to others. The percentage of African Americans continues to exceed population representation of the civilian labor force although there are less African Americans enlisting than years before. Hispanics are underrepresented in the military, but their percentages have increased over the years as it has in society. Minorities comprise proportionally less of the officer corps. The minorities in the active and reserve Army Forces representation levels are in line with the statistics among the pool of college graduates from which the second lieutenants and ensigns are drawn. Women continue to be underrepresented in the military in comparison to society although statistics show that women have generally continued to gain in both numerical and proportionalShow MoreRelatedThe United States Armed Forces Essay865 Words   |  4 PagesThere are currently 2,204,836 people serving in the United States Armed Forces. Females currently make up 16.2% of those currently serving equating to 358,156 this number includes both enlisted, reserve, and the officer corps. While the Armed Forces has downsized, the percentage of females serving has increased with females now making up 17.8% of all active duty personnel and roughly thirty-nine thousand serving as active duty officers. With the increasing diversity of the military, Secretary ofRead MoreA Brief Note On The World War II1208 Words   |  5 Pagescontradiction between the principle of equal freedom and the actual status of blacks had come to the forefront of national life. Though minorities and women were discriminated in many ways, most of them got equal rights because of the war. During the war, many women were encouraged to go to work. The nation engaged in proper mobilization of â€Å"womanpower† to fill the jobs in industries vacated by men (Foner, 904). In 1944, more than one-third of the civilian labor force was women whereas 350,000 were in assistingRead MoreBuffalo Soldiers1065 Words   |  5 Pagesthe United States (US) armed forces over the last century. I chose to compare the Buffalo Soldiers, who existed from 1867-1896, and their experiences with the current state of the US armed forces. I was drawn to author, ZZ Packer’s â€Å"Buffalo Soldiers† because of my experience in the US armed services and, as I read the book it became clear that the US armed services today is very different from what it was at the time when the Buffalo Soldiers existed. I served honorably in both the United StatesRead MoreFirst Wave Feminism By Betty Friedan1171 Words   |  5 Pagesreproductive rights and equal opportunity in education and the w orkplace. Source 1: The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan In 1963, Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique was published. Friedan discussed the problem that â€Å"lay buried, unspoken† in the minds of the suburban housewife, saying that they were too socially conditioned to recognize their boredom and lack of fulfillment. The book isn’t reliable in that it failed to address the struggle of minority and working-class women who didn t have theRead MoreAmerican Minorities Have Had It Pretty Rough Thought The History Of America1139 Words   |  5 PagesHappenings In America American minorities have had it pretty rough thought the history of America. However World War II opened up many doors of opportunity to American minorities that no event before has ever done. Women, Latinos, and African Americans were all subject to lower standards of life until World War II came into play. Women were expected to take up work and have long hours on the job. Many Latinos were brought up from Mexico to America to create a prosperous labor force, and for many African AmericansRead MoreRacial Diversity, Integration and Equal Opportunity in Us Army;3586 Words   |  15 PagesRunning head: RACIAL DIVERSITY, INTEGRATION Racial Diversity, Integration and Equal Opportunity in US Army; A Proud History of Progress Table of Contents Certificate of Authorship 1 Title Page 2 Table of Contents 3 Abstract 4 Introduction 5 Minority Service to the US Army - A Proud History 5 The Revolutionary War 5 The Civil War 6 Buffalo Soldiers 6 World War I and World War II 6 The Korean Conflict 7 Read MoreDiversity in the US Military1940 Words   |  8 Pagesï » ¿DIVERSITY IN THE U.S MILITARY The United States Army is a gigantic institute with an international presence. One of its fundamental sources of power is the diversity of its personnel, which includes 1.6 million workforce across the active, reserve, civilian, and contractor parts. While the Army was at the vanguard of ethnic incorporation in the 1950s and at present is one of the most assorted institutes in the U.S., further advancement must be made on the diversity front. The term diversity canRead MoreAffirmative Action : The United States956 Words   |  4 Pagesin the workplace or there lack of. The women and people of color were the targets of discrimination, which several presidents tried to correct for equality. The Past During the Great Depression affirmative action was introduced, although it was not called that yet, under the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Segregation and discrimination was a major issue and President Roosevelt wanted to make changes to that so that the country could be united and equal. He tried to implement new programs thatRead MoreWomen s Rights Of Women1086 Words   |  5 PagesThe recognition of equality has come a long way in the last hundred years. From suffrage being granted to Women, to people of different races being able to attend the same unsegregated schools. Yet, equal treatment and opportunities for all is still not assured in our society. A blatant example of this is the controversy around allowing women to serve in combat roles. Many detractors try to make the case of females being mentally and physically unsuited for the harsh trials of combat, therefore wantingRead MoreA Brief Note On Pre World War II1258 Words   |  6 PagesThe social, economic, and political landscapes of the pre-World War II United States, from 1931 to 1939, were substandard compared to their post-World War II counterparts. Pre-World War II United States is characterized by the worst economic crisis in the nation’s history. The Great Depression(1929-1939) was a global phenomenon that was associated with the American stock market crash in 1929. The economic downturn resulted in high unemployment rates(25%), reduced wages, high interest rates, and high

Literary research Free Essays

Nathan Furr finds many reasons for doing literary research.   He summarizes these to be â€Å"Experiencing the Other, learning compassion and service, gaining insight into ourselves, finding new ways of thinking, understanding and writing more clearly, and uncovering the joy of discovery and creation† (Furr, 3).   To these he also adds essentially, the power of literary research to combat misinformation. We will write a custom essay sample on Literary research or any similar topic only for you Order Now    Generally, Furr’s reasons are similar to my own; however, I would make some changes to his conclusions. Two of Furr’s claims with which I unequivocally agree are that literary research allows one the ability of â€Å"understanding and writing more clearly† as well as a major reason for literary research being â€Å"uncovering the joy of discovery and creation.† These two reasons are of key importance because the detective aspect of literary research is a large part of what makes it so appealing to me.   By extension, a pile of research serves little value even if the research was conducted merely out of my own curiosity because the compiling, organizing, and writing are all essential components in answering the initial question.   Without the writing forcing me to synthesize the facts I have discovered and draw coherent conclusions, the research itself as well as whatever conclusions I drew are more easily forgotten. The first reason Furr lists is â€Å"experiencing the Other.†Ã‚   While this does seem like a valuable reason, I would more likely phrase it as â€Å"expanding one’s world view.†Ã‚   At least for me, this broader category makes more sense.   In the example he gives about the man from Poland, I think not only do we get to see the world from his perspective, but through oral histories like this we gain a valuable insight into the time and place described.   Thinking of it as experiencing the Other feels uncomfortable to me in that it seems to separate the researcher from the research subject, and as I think Furr would agree, that distance is exactly what literary research often seeks to minimize. While Furr’s claim that literary research can aid in â€Å"finding new ways of thinking,† I had difficulty with his example of research for buying a computer.   At the end of this paragraph, he summarizes the process of research saying, â€Å"We start with a problem or question, being researching, follow leads, assemble materials, and then create a product† (Furr, 2).   I agree that this is how research is conducted; however, is that really finding a new way of thinking?   It seems more like gathering information to form a conclusion and it should thus be labeled something more like â€Å"providing information.† I think this is especially true because, aside from his example, literary research does not necessarily facilitate the discovery of new ways of thinking.   I think it is possible that one could research a topic and emerge with a legitimate conclusion or â€Å"product† but without any new way of thinking about the problem beyond having found a satisfactory conclusion.   Ideally, this would not be the case.   Anyone conducting literary research would discover a new way of seeing a problem, but I think it is too broad a generalization to assume that this is always true.   At any rate, I think if this is truly what Mr. Furr is asserting, it would fit better, for me, into the â€Å"expanding one’s world view† category. Furr also sees â€Å"gaining insight into ourselves† as another reason for doing literary research.   In describing this reason, Furr states that through literary research many people seek to essentially â€Å"unlocking what we have always known and affirming it to ourselves. (Furr, 2). This seems to be Furr’s most direct reference to researcher bias.   I found his lack of a full discussion of this topic to be a major shortcoming of his article.   True, research in it most basic form involves uncovering information, but the world—in literary and historical senses as well as many others—is a very complex web of thoughts, experiences, and interpretations. I would argue that there is no one Truth, and the belief in such a thing is naà ¯ve.   The most obvious case would be the Bible.   Many different people seek to use the Bible to support very different claims.   Often passages sighted are contradictory and can easily support conflicting contentions.   The literary researcher does uncover information, but what is uncovered is only part of the story.   Which part is uncovered is largely reliant upon the sources one utilizes. The selection of source is also a product of bias.   For example, I would not use a Hindi newspaper, nor would I look to an un-translated Mayan text.   These two can be seen as extremes because of linguistic inaccessibility, but in doing research we generally gravitate toward sources with which we are comfortable whether books, popular media, scholarly articles, newspapers, oral histories, or any number of available source material. Beyond comfort with sources, I think Furr’s assertion falters in that it does not explicitly take into account that researchers find what they seek.   This affirming of one’s own beliefs is key to researcher bias because, for example, people who want to claim that the Holocaust never happened, will do so regardless of any information others try to point out to them.   Further, they will conduct their own research and doubtless find material that supports their conclusion, however false that conclusion may seem to be. Furr discusses the power of misinformation, but fails to consider the fact that many people do research and come up with unpopular conclusions that fly in the face of nearly all other findings.   Simply because we know it happened, when looking at the issue of the Holocaust we can claim that people denying it existence are spreading misinformation, but with more complex issues, and issues for which there are not survivors, it becomes clear that one person’s misinformation can be another’s highly researched cutting-edge discovery.   It all depends on where you look and what you are hoping to find. Another of Furr’s reasons for literary research—learning compassion and service—seems a bit optimistic to me.   Of course, we would like to believe that knowledge conquers darkness, but again compassion is a highly subjective issue.   Many people research literature, science, and history either explicitly in search of or resulting in reasons to assert their own superiority and use to oppress others.   One example would be people who researched, and still do research, on the biological inferiority of minorities to perpetuate and legitimize racist practices.   Finding compassion in such research is difficult if not impossible. In terms of service though, I enjoyed Furr’s claim that research is an ethical action.   While again this statement seems a bit simplistic, I think the argument he quotes from Altick and Fenstermaker that literary research can serve to extend â€Å"the traditional boundaries of scholarly and critical interest† is a valid one (Furr, 2).   While I do find Furr’s claims to be optimistic, I agree that in the best-case scenarios they are both true and of extreme value, but it is important to highlight some possibilities for which his arguments do not seem to account. I do agree that there are many important reasons both personal and social to undertake literary research.   Perhaps the strongest impetus for doing research is curiosity, â€Å"is that so?   I’ll look it up.†Ã‚   On an individual level when someone makes a seemingly unrealistic claim, literary research is an important tool in satisfying curiosity and quelling argument. Investigating misinformation is also very valuable on a larger social level.   This calls to mind the Program on International Policy Attitudes 2003 study that surveyed Americans to determine their rate of misperception about three issues surrounding the Gulf War and found that 80% Fox News viewers held at least one of the misperceptions (PIPA, 13).   To me, this illustrates the importance of literary research more than any other example. If one accepts information from one source uncritically, then they are completely at the mercy of that source’s biases.   While I believe it is true that a researcher is limited by their own biases, at least those biases are their own.   Exposure to sources with different biases is important in opening up new avenues of inquiry, but undertaking literary research is vital to locating other biases and interpreting information provided by those sources.   Literary research then is the key to knowing not only one’s own mind, but understanding the minds of others, and thus one of the most valuable tools anyone can employ in developing intellectually, personally, and socially. Works Cited Furr, Nathan. Literary Research: The Importance of Process and Product. Kull, Steven. â€Å"Misperceptions, the Media, and the War in Iraq.† Pipa.com. 2 Oct. 2003. Program on International Policy Attitudes. 22 Dec. 2006 http://65.109.167.118/pipa/pdf/oct03/IraqMedia_Oct03_rpt.pdf.    How to cite Literary research, Essays