Immanuel Kant och absolutismen: Huruvida Kant verkligen var absolutist i relation till ärlighet och angående om de olika versionerna av det kategoriska imperativet är kompatibla med att tillåta en rationell varelse att ljuga i specifika situationer
(2022) FPRK01 20221Practical Philosophy
- Abstract
- This paper deals with Immanuel Kant’s views on absolutism in relation to lying. In the essay Über ein vermeintes Recht aus Menschenliebe zu lügen (1797), Kant expressed the view that a person was never allowed to lie, not even to a murderer if the purpose was to save an innocent person’s life. It did not matter that the intentions were good, lying was always forbidden because he claimed it harmed humanity in general. The aim of this paper is to put the essay in question in its historical and political context. By doing this, and by tracing Kant’s different views on the topic lying throughout his lifetime, this paper provides a way to not view Kant’s moral philosophy as a whole, regarding lying, as absolutistic. This paper argues that the... (More)
- This paper deals with Immanuel Kant’s views on absolutism in relation to lying. In the essay Über ein vermeintes Recht aus Menschenliebe zu lügen (1797), Kant expressed the view that a person was never allowed to lie, not even to a murderer if the purpose was to save an innocent person’s life. It did not matter that the intentions were good, lying was always forbidden because he claimed it harmed humanity in general. The aim of this paper is to put the essay in question in its historical and political context. By doing this, and by tracing Kant’s different views on the topic lying throughout his lifetime, this paper provides a way to not view Kant’s moral philosophy as a whole, regarding lying, as absolutistic. This paper argues that the essay Über ein vermeintes Recht aus Menschenliebe zu lügen (1797) was a result of rhetorical exaggeration to prove a point by Kant in relation to the upholding of principles concerning the aftermath of the French revolution, since he was a staunch supporter of the original principles and did not like the bending of them. Therefore, when reading Kant’s essay, it should be possible to exclude the absolutistic viewpoint regarding lying put forth in it, and when applying Kantian ethics, focus should be of the application on the three versions of the categorical imperative, which I argue, permits lying in certain specific instances. The discussion about necessary lies should also be included in the wider discourse, rather than the focus being on Kant as an absolutist. Another possible reading of the results is that Kant changed his views on the topic during his lifetime, but I argue for the first interpretation due to the historical and political context of the essay, and the compatibility of permitting certain lies by the three versions of the categorical imperative. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9086786
- author
- Johansson, Oskar LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- FPRK01 20221
- year
- 2022
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- Absolutism, Det kategoriska imperativet, Immanuel Kant, Kantianism, Perfekta och imperfekta plikter
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9086786
- date added to LUP
- 2022-09-26 11:14:35
- date last changed
- 2022-09-26 11:14:35
@misc{9086786,
abstract = {{This paper deals with Immanuel Kant’s views on absolutism in relation to lying. In the essay Über ein vermeintes Recht aus Menschenliebe zu lügen (1797), Kant expressed the view that a person was never allowed to lie, not even to a murderer if the purpose was to save an innocent person’s life. It did not matter that the intentions were good, lying was always forbidden because he claimed it harmed humanity in general. The aim of this paper is to put the essay in question in its historical and political context. By doing this, and by tracing Kant’s different views on the topic lying throughout his lifetime, this paper provides a way to not view Kant’s moral philosophy as a whole, regarding lying, as absolutistic. This paper argues that the essay Über ein vermeintes Recht aus Menschenliebe zu lügen (1797) was a result of rhetorical exaggeration to prove a point by Kant in relation to the upholding of principles concerning the aftermath of the French revolution, since he was a staunch supporter of the original principles and did not like the bending of them. Therefore, when reading Kant’s essay, it should be possible to exclude the absolutistic viewpoint regarding lying put forth in it, and when applying Kantian ethics, focus should be of the application on the three versions of the categorical imperative, which I argue, permits lying in certain specific instances. The discussion about necessary lies should also be included in the wider discourse, rather than the focus being on Kant as an absolutist. Another possible reading of the results is that Kant changed his views on the topic during his lifetime, but I argue for the first interpretation due to the historical and political context of the essay, and the compatibility of permitting certain lies by the three versions of the categorical imperative.}},
author = {{Johansson, Oskar}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Immanuel Kant och absolutismen: Huruvida Kant verkligen var absolutist i relation till ärlighet och angående om de olika versionerna av det kategoriska imperativet är kompatibla med att tillåta en rationell varelse att ljuga i specifika situationer}},
year = {{2022}},
}