Don’t Lie, But Don’t Tell the Truth, Either (13-17)

Conclusion: Actions are considered moral if they are enacted for a sense of duty motivated by universal moral principal out of respect for the law

EP 1: An action can be deemed moral only by the principle through which it was determined (12-13)

EP 2: An action from duty has no moral worth if it is motivated by the realization of the end result of the action (13)

EP 3: The moral worth of an action does not lie in the expected result or in any motive gained from the expectation of this result (13)

IP 1: The realization of the end result of an action is considered a motivation that is a posteriori, which is benign of all moral principles and duty

IP 2: A sense of duty motivated by moral principle leads to moral action because the sense of duty is based upon moral principles that are a priori, or, already established

EP 4: Duty is the necessity of an action done out of respect for the law (13)
EP 5: An action done from duty must altogether exclude the influence of inclination and, therefore, every object of the will (13)

EP 6: Hence, nothing else can determine the will except (objectively) the law, and (subjectively) pure respect for this practical law.

EP 7: This respect for the practical law comes above personal inclinations. (13)

EP 8: Moral actions should be driven by a maxim that is capable of becoming universal law (14)

IP 3: Universal law must apply to all humans in all situations, therefore it cannot take into account circumstances or impulses, so moral principle cannot either

IP 4: Morality is not relative and applies to all human beings

EP 9: Giving false promises in distress for fear of disadvantageous consequences is immoral (14)

EP 10: Telling the truth for fear of disadvantageous consequences is also immoral (14-15)

IP 5: Fear of the consequence does not follow moral principle, because worrying about the effect of an action is a posteriori, and true moral principle must be a priori (independent of the outcome).

EP 11: To be truthful from duty is different from being truthful from fear of disadvantageous consequences (15)

EP 12: Making universal law out of the utilization of false promises to deter distress would lead to self-destruction of the maxim itself (15)

            -If everybody were to make false promises in difficult situations (universalizing the law), promises would not truly exist at all and a level of distrust would be created (15)

EP 13: Respect is an estimation of a worth that far outweighs any worth of what is recommended by inclinations

EP 14: Necessity of acting from pure respect for the practical law is what constitutes duty (15)

-Every other motive must give way to this because duty is the condition of a will good in itself, whose worth is above all else (15)

EP 15: Ordinary human reason shows the ability to understand practical moral law (16)

            Ex:  Most people understand that moral concerns should be independent of sensuous motivation (16)

How to Act Morally According to Kant (pgs. 10-12)

Conclusion: To qualify as truly moral, an action must be done solely for the duty itself, and oppose any and all inclinations.

EP 1: A will that is good regardless of any further end comprises the complete worth of our actions. (9)

EP 2: The concept of duty includes a good will. (9)

EP 3: Duty consists of a good will that has certain subjective restrictions upon it.  (9)

EP 4: These aforementioned restrictions upon a good will are ones that do not hide the good will, but in fact make it more pronounced. (9)

IP 1: These restrictions are situations that allow certain actions to either qualify as having been done by a good will or not.  

- These situations are meant to distinguish an action as being done solely for duty or not.

IP 2: A good will, that has specific situations in which illuminate it, composes the complete worth of our actions.

EP5: The first situation that would not make an action a part of good will is action that opposes duty. (10)

-       An action that opposes duty cannot be done from or for duty since it is contrary to a duty itself; therefore, there is no question that this action was not done solely for duty.

EP 6: The second situation that would not make an action a part of good will is action that abides to duty but is done for some inclination that is not an immediate inclination. (10)

-       An immediate inclination would be an instinctual drive to do something; therefore, an inclination that is not an immediate inclination would be one of acquired ends (a mediate inclination).

-       For example: A man would pay his taxes not because he had an immediate inclination to do so, but because he had a mediate inclination to not suffer the outcomes that occur to people who do not pay their taxes. So while his action is done in concurrence with duty, it is not done for the duty itself: it is done so that he will not suffer certain consequences. (10)

EP 7: The third situation that would not make an action a part of good will is action that abides to duty but is done because of an immediate inclination. (10)

-       For example: a man does not kill himself because he loves life and his immediate inclination is to remain living. (10)

-       While not killing one’s self is acting in concurrence with duty, it is also done for the sake of an immediate inclination to stay alive and therefore is not done solely for duty. (10)

EP 8: The last case that would in fact make an action a part of good will, is action that is done without any inclination. (10)

-       For example: A man who is, hopeless, hates life, and wishes for death, decides that despite his misery he will remain alive because he has a duty to not kill himself. This man has acted with good will because this action is in concurrence with duty and also was free of inclination. He had an inclination to die but instead, acted contrary to that inclination and remained alive solely for the duty of not killing himself. (10)

IP 3: An action that is done with any inclination at all has some form of selfish motive.

-       Either an immediate or mediate inclination causes for an action to be done with some sort of satisfaction to that person, which makes that action of selfish motive.

-       A man pays his takes out of a mediate inclination to save himself from punishment: he had a selfish desire to not be punished.

-        The man who does not kill himself out of an immediate inclination to live because he loves life has a wonderful life to gain by not killing himself. He therefore had a selfish desire to stay alive in his wonderful life.  

IP 4: These situations are not actions that comprise a good will due to their containment of some type of selfish purpose.

IP 5: An action of good will is moral.

IP 6: An action done without any inclination and for duty solely is of a good will.

EP 9: An action, which is done without any inclination and for duty solely, is moral. (10)

EP 10: To qualify as truly moral, an action must be done solely for the duty itself, and oppose any and all inclinations. (11-12)   

Kant's Duties (pg. 9-11)

Conclusion: A will that is good in itself must perform certain duties.

IP1: The actions performed for a duty must be done in accordance with a certain moral criteria in order to be considered good.

EP1: Actions involving activities such as dishonesty or stealing are contrary to duty. (pg.10)

IP2: Performing actions that are contrary to duty can never be good and do not constitute a good will.

EP2: Actions are only good if they are done for the sake of duty. (pg.10)

IP3: Actions done for the sake of duty are apriori.

EP3: Actions done in accordance with duty but not for the sake of duty are not good. (pg.10)

EP4: Actions done in accordance with duty and with the inclination to do good but are not ultimately performed for the sake of duty are not good. (pg.10)

EP5: Actions done for the sake of duty, despite an inclination to act otherwise, are not only good but are also considered to be the highest in moral worth. (pg.11)

Kant and Good Will (pgs 7-8)

Conclusion: A good will is good for no other reason than it is good in itself.

EP1: The will of a person is that person's character. (7) 

EP2: It determines how a person will choose to use particular talents and qualities. (7)

IP1: The alignment of our will is our free choice. It is not predetermined.

EP3: A good will is not valuable based on its usefulness or ability to produce some desired outcome. (8)

EP4: Talents and qualities are not absolute goods because they have no assigned value, only potential value based on the will of a person. 

EP5: The good will defines these things as good because it is the only absolute good. (7)

IP2: Similar actions leading to similar ends can be produced from different intentions, meaning there must be some ultimate defining concept, which is the will.

EP6: A good will keeps these things in check so that they cannot become harmful. (7)

You Kant Understand Ethics Without Pure Logic

Conclusion: Only a pure moral philosophy can avoid the dangers of the corruption of morality.

EP1 - Ancient Greek philosophy was divided between three topics: (1)
- Physics - study of nature
- Ethics - the study of morals
- Logic - study of reasoning
EP2 - Rational Knowledge is of two types: (1)

- Material knowledge - Concerned with objects and the laws to which they are subject

- Laws of nature (physics) - “the doctrine of nature”
- Laws of freedom (ethics) - “doctrine of morals”
- Formal Knowledge - Concerned with the form of understanding, reasoning itself, and the universal thoughts without regard to specific objects
EP3 - Logic can’t be empirical (1)
- Empirical knowledge is necessarily grounded in experience
IP1 - Example: NASA logically deduced conditions on the moon for Appolo 11’s 1969 mission without any direct experience of previously landing on the moon
EP4 - Physics and Ethics (Natural and moral philosophy) - can have empirical components (1)
- We can only determine the laws of nature through experience (how do things happen?)
- Ethics concerns itself with the will of the man as affected by nature
EP5 - “Empirical” - philosophy founded on experience (1)
EP6 - “Pure” - a priori - a formal logic
IP2 - When attempting to solve a problem, it is better to use one method as opposed to two or more.
EP7 - The one method more highly regarded is Pure moral philosophy, in contrast to the empirical method. (2)
EP8 - Moral philosophy rests entirely on it’s pure part (3)
- Ethics, to be applied, requires judgement developed through experience in order to
- Distinguish to which cases they are applicable
- Influence their application in practice
IP3 - Pure reason is not easy to practice
EP9 - Morally good practice is not enough, it must be done for the sake of the moral laws (3)
IP4 - Making donations is a moral practice
IP5 - Making a donation to impress is not as moral as making a donation to help
EP10 - Pure philosophy, and therefore a pure will, are primary and free of empirical motives (3)

Aristotle and Nietzsche

Conclusion: Aristotle would replace Nietzscheism with a philosophy that emphasized man’s role in society over his role as an individual.

EP1: Philosophers have attempted to provide an alternative moral philosophy to Aristotle, but have always failed to do so (256)

EP2: Modern morality can only be understood through fragments of the philosophy of Aristotle (257)

IP1: In order to understand modern philosophy, one must understand Aristotle. 

EP3: The moralities of modern philosophy fail because they attempt to link surviving fragments of Aristotle with present-day constructs (257)

IP2: The lack of an acceptable moral tradition makes modern philosophies untenable when separated from Aristotelian teachings.

IP3: The morality of modern philosophy must be compatible with Aristotle’s teaching.

EP4: Nietzsche contends that Aristotle’s morality is nothing more than a way to cover up the desire for power over society, and that such morality cannot be sustained (258)

IP4: Nietzsche’s philosophy needs to be changed in order to be more compatible with Aristotle’s.

IP5: Nietzscheism will necessarily focus on the self because of its perception that Aristotle’s teachings about power cannot be sustained.

EP5: The Nietzschean “great man” only has authority over himself, and his interactions with other people must have the aim of advancing that authority (258).

EP6: The authority of laws and virtues necessarily originates with communities of people with a shared understanding of goods (258).

EP7: If man isolates himself from such a community, he will never be able to find any good outside of himself (258).

IP6: The entire basis for the power of the “Great Man” is invalid because it involves the “Great Man” isolating himself from a community.

IP7: Social commitments must play some role in philosophical morality.

EP8: There is no coherent, rationally defensible theory of liberal individualism consistent with Aristotelian philosophy (259).

EP9: The Aristotelian tradition can be restated in such a way that a moral role can be given to social commitments (259).

IP8: Aristotle would emphasize social commitments over individual greatness.

IP9: Aristotle would replace the “Great Man” with something that more closely emphasized man’s social commitments. 

The Necessity of Friendship

Conclusion: Friendship of character is necessary to the life of a virtuous person

EP1: Certain types of friendships are unstable when each friend has dissimilar aims (137)

• Political friendship- a service in exchange for something like money
• Erotic friendship- a relationship based on the exchange of pleasure for pleasure or pleasure for apparent love

EP2: Friendship of character endures through everything because it is done for the sake of itself (137)

IP1: To do something for the sake of itself, rather than doing something for ones own advancement  or for an alterior motive, is more virtuous

EP3: In dealing with a friend of any type, what is properly due to that friend should be given in exchange by the other (140-41)

• There is nothing absurd in dissolving the friendship based on utility when the friend no longer becomes useful 
• If a friend of yours becomes vicious then it would be wise to end the relationship
• If you yourself notice that you have surpassed your friend in virtue it would also be wise to end the friendship 

EP4: The defining features of friendship of character are the same features that define the relation of a decent person to himself (142)

• The decent persons is of one mind and desires the same things in his entire soul
• He wishes to live and to be preserved, and wishes goods upon himself to achieves these things
• He shares his own anxieties and pleasures with himself and enjoys spending time with himself

EP5: Friendship to oneself is a feature of the decent person, and since the friend is another self, decent people that share the feature of friendship with in themselves tend to be friends (142)

EP6: Base or vicious people appear to have the same features as decent people only insofar as they suppose that they are actually decent (143)

EP7: The descent person that has a friendship based on character must love himself (146)

• The decent person of a character of virtue will strive to achieve the finest actions and thus the common good
• As a result of this each indivdual will receive the greatest of goods
• So the good person must be a self lover since he will help himself and benefit others

IP2:If the decent person cannot love himself, since the friend is an extension of himself, then he cannot love his friend

EP8: A vicious person must not love himself, and therefor must not seek friendship (147)

• For the vicious person the correct actions conflict with those actions that he does
• Because of this the vicious person will harm others and himself by loving himself

EP9: The human being is social by nature and therefor needs friends (148)

IP3: The human being is good by nature making socializing among other humans the proper action

EP10: The friendship of base people is marked by vice and is detrimental to each person involved(153)

• They are unstable, share base pursuits, and by becoming similar to each other they grow vicious

EP11: The friendship of decent people is decent and is beneficial to each person involved (153) 

• They become better from their activity and mutual correction and this increases each time they meet

Friendship

Conclusion: Friendship is complete when good people are similar in virtue.

EP1- There are three forms of friendship: (121)

            1.Utility friendships which both sides provide some benefit and easily dissolves.

            2.Pleasure friendships, where people are drawn to looks, wit, and pleasant qualities,

 which eventually fades.

            3. Goodness friendships, where people are drawn to each others goodness and aim to help

each other strive for goodness, which last the longest.

EP2- Friendships based on goodness are stable because goodness is a virtue and it is based upon   the mutual sake of one another (122).

1. Goodness based friendships are hardest to find because they take the longest time to develop (122).

EP3- Complete friendship occurs when good and virtues men are alike in their goodness (122).

EP4- Friendships that have superiority must be balanced (127).

EP5- Political communities imply friendships.

1.     Political friendships have an association with both justice and friendship (129).

EP6- There are three types of political systems: Kingship, Aristocracy, and Timocracy (130).

1.     Kingship includes tyranny where a single ruler becomes vicious with power and out for the sake of his own good (130).

2.     Aristocracy entails the ruling of people based upon their wealth (130).

3.     Timocracy is similar to democracy, where the people rule it equally (131). 

EP7- Friendship with a king is beneficial to his subjects but based upon superiority (131).

EP8- Aristocracy friendships are virtuous and good (132).

EP9- Timocracy friendship is similar to that of brothers and is based on equality (132).

1.     Friendships and justice occur most often in democracies rather than tyrannies (132).

EP10- Family friendships are based upon paternal and maternal friendships (132).

1.     Friendships of siblings are based on companionship (133).

IP1- Friends do not have to be equally good, but if they are, the friendship will last longer.

IP2- Lasting friendships depend on character rather than superiority or benefits.

IP3- Unless the friendship is equal, disputes will end in the dissolve of the friendship.