scholarly journals Kant's ethical standpoint and the problem of moral integrity

2013 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 79-94
Author(s):  
Katarina Majstorovic

The aim of this paper is to emphasize the importance of the problem of moral integrity in Kant's ethical teachings. First, we tried to locate the moral integrity within Kant's original teachings, considering its relationship to the notions of dignity, duty, respect and autonomy. In the wake of further conceptualization of the problem of moral integrity, particularly interesting seemed the issue of threats of moral integrity, which we illustrated. The second part of the paper is concerned with critics to charge that Kant does not provide a satisfactory treatment of the moral integrity of the individual because his insistence on impartiality. In response to critics, we offered a presentation of the main arguments of Barbara Herman, where she is trying to improve the Kantian position. Nevertheless, the focus of argumentation which attempts to defend Kant is on the suggestions made by Henning Jensen. His suggestions call our attention to a little known part of Kant's original text, which explicitly shows the existence of perfect duties to oneself. It is also argued that perfect duty to oneself is at the same time the duty of higher order, determined as the right of humanity in our own person. Jensen manages to find the possibility of establishing moral integrity within Kant's conception and to preserve the essential significance of moral law in Kant's ethics.

2006 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 78-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faviola Rivera

Perfect ethical duties have usually puzzled commentators on Kant's ethics because they do not fit neatly within his taxonomy of duties. Ethical duties require the adoption of maxims of ends: the happiness of others and one's own perfection are Kant's two main categories. These duties, he claims, are of wide obligation because they do not specify what in particular one ought to do, when, and how much. They leave ‘a latitude for free choice’ as he puts it. Perfect duties, however, such as the duties of respect, to avoid suicide, lying, and servility, do not appear to require the adoption of ends but only the performance or omission of specific types of actions. The puzzle is how these duties can be ethical, and therefore wide. Faced with this difficulty, Mary Gregor denies that perfect ethical duties are wide. She claims that they are an ‘anomaly’ and that they do not belong to ethics proper but to moral philosophy in general. She argues that these duties are derived from the categorical imperative, instead of, as Kant himself appears to have thought, the first principle of virtue. Taking a very different approach, Onora O'Neill finds the perfect/imperfect distinction of little importance and suggests doing without it altogether. Most other interpreters also assume that ‘wide’ is opposed to ‘perfect’ so that a wide perfect duty is a conceptual impossibility.


Author(s):  
Mark Timmons

This book is a reader’s guide to Kant’s final work in moral philosophy, The Doctrine of Virtue, Part II of the 1797 Metaphysics of Morals. The guide has five parts plus a conclusion. Part I, “Background,” includes two chapters: 1. “Life and Work” and 2. “Philosophical Background.” Part II, “General Introduction to The Metaphysics of Morals,” covers the introduction to the entire work and includes three chapters: 3. “On the Idea of and Necessity for a Metaphysics of Morals,” 4. “Mental Faculties, the Moral Law, and Human Motivation,” and 5. “Preliminary Concepts and Division of the Metaphysics of Morals.” Part III, “Introduction to The Doctrine of Virtue,” includes four chapters covering Kant’s dedicated introduction to the Doctrine of Virtue: 6. “The Doctrine of Virtue as a Doctrine of Ends,” 7. “General Ends that Are Also Duties,” 8. “Radical Evil and the Nature of Virtue,” and 9. “The Science of Ethics.” Part IV, “The Doctrine of Elements,” is devoted to Kant’s system of duties of virtue that represents his normative ethical theory. It contains six chapters: 10. “Perfect Duties to Oneself as an Animal Being,” 11. “Perfect Duties to Oneself Merely as a Moral Being,” 12. Imperfect Duties to Oneself,” 13. “Duties of Love to Other Human Beings,” 14. “The Vices of Hatred and Disrespect,” and 15. “Friendship.” Part V, “The Doctrine of Methods of Ethics and Conclusion,” includes chapter 16 “Moral Education and Practice.” The book’s conclusion reflects on the significance of The Doctrine of Virtue for understanding Kant’s ethics.


2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauris Christopher Kaldjian

The communication of moral reasoning in medicine can be understood as a means of showing respect for patients and colleagues through the giving of moral reasons for actions. This communication is especially important when disagreements arise. While moral reasoning should strive for impartiality, it also needs to acknowledge the individual moral beliefs and values that distinguish each person (moral particularity) and give rise to the challenge of contrasting moral frameworks (moral pluralism). Efforts to communicate moral reasoning should move beyond common approaches to principles-based reasoning in medical ethics by addressing the underlying beliefs and values that define our moral frameworks and guide our interpretations and applications of principles. Communicating about underlying beliefs and values requires a willingness to grapple with challenges of accessibility (the degree to which particular beliefs and values are intelligible between persons) and translatability (the degree to which particular beliefs and values can be transposed from one moral framework to another) as words and concepts are used to communicate beliefs and values. Moral dialogues between professionals and patients and among professionals themselves need to be handled carefully, and sometimes these dialogues invite reference to underlying beliefs and values. When professionals choose to articulate such beliefs and values, they can do so as an expression of respectful patient care and collaboration and as a means of promoting their own moral integrity by signalling the need for consistency between their own beliefs, words and actions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 232-236
Author(s):  
Manol Stanin

AbstractLimitation of rights is a measure proved its effectiveness with positive results for the community in war, military or another emergency.Attitude to rightsmust be human with a view to the right-to-human relationshipbecause the crossing of a certain boundary leads to a disintegration of rights and a negative impact on the personality.This implies necessity from legal institutionalization of clear criteria to refine the limitation of rights, both for the purpose of their protection and for the purpose of protecting the individual.


2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 180-188
Author(s):  
Bianca Nicla Romano

Art. 24 of the 1948 Declaration of Human Rights recognises and protects the right of the individual to rest and leisure. This right has to be fully exercised without negative consequences on the right to work and the remuneration. Tourism can be considered one of the best ways of rest and leisure because it allows to enrich the personality of the individual. Even after the reform of the Title V this area is no longer covered by the Italian Constitution, the Italian legal system protects and guarantees it as a real right, so as to get to recognize its existence and the consequent compensation of the so-called “ruined holiday damage”. This kind of damage has not a patrimonial nature, but a moral one, and the Tourist-Traveler can claim for it when he has not been able to fully enjoy his holiday - the essential fulcrum of tourism - intended as an opportunity for leisure and/or rest, essential rights of the individual.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jyoti Narayan Patra ◽  
Jayanta Mete

Values are like seeds that sprout, become saplings, grow into trees and spread their branches all around. To be able to think right, to feel the right kind of emotions and to act in the desirable manner are the prime phases of personality development. Building up of values system starts with the individual, moves on to the family and community, reorienting systems, structures and institutions, spreading throughout the land and ultimately embracing the planet as a whole. The culture of inclusivity is particularly relevant and important in the context of our society, nation and making education a right for all children.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽  
pp. 1477-1481
Author(s):  
Ishwari Gaikwad ◽  
Priyanka Shelotkar

The current world situation is both frightening and alarming due to the massive disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The next few days are censorious as we need to be very precautious in our daily regimen as well as dietary habits. Ayurveda offers knowledge about food based on certain reasoning. Indecent food custom is the chief cause for the rising development of health disorders in the current era. In classical texts of Ayurveda, the concept of diet explained well, ranging from their natural sources, properties and specific utility in pathological as well as physiological manner. In this work, the review of the relevant literature of Ahara (Diet) was carried out from Charak Samhita and other texts, newspapers, articles, web page related to the same.  Every human being is unique with respect to his Prakriti (Physical and mental temperament), Agni (Digestive capacity), Koshtha  (Nature of bowel) etc. For that reason, the specificity of the individual should be kept in mind. Ahara, when consumed in the appropriate amount at the right moment following all Niyamas (Guidelines) given in Ayurveda texts, gives immunity and keeps the body in a healthy state during pandemics such as Covid-19. Ultimately, this will help the human body to maintain its strength for life. This article reviews the concept of diet viz. combination of foods, their quantity and quality, methods of preparation and processing, which are to be followed during pandemics and are essential in maintenance and endorsement of health and preclusion of diseases.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 112-152
Author(s):  
Busiso Helard Moyo ◽  
Anne Marie Thompson Thow

Despite South Africa’s celebrated constitutional commitments that have expanded and deepened South Africa’s commitment to realise socio-economic rights, limited progress in implementing right to food policies stands to compromise the country’s developmental path. If not a deliberate policy choice, the persistence of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms is a deep policy failure.  Food system transformation in South Africa requires addressing wider issues of who controls the food supply, thus influencing the food chain and the food choices of the individual and communities. This paper examines three global rights-based paradigms – ‘food justice’, ‘food security’ and ‘food sovereignty’ – that inform activism on the right to food globally and their relevance to food system change in South Africa; for both fulfilling the right to food and addressing all forms of malnutrition. We conclude that the emerging concept of food sovereignty has important yet largely unexplored possibilities for democratically managing food systems for better health outcomes.


Think India ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 463-466
Author(s):  
TUMMALA. SAI MAMATA

A river flows serenely accepting all the miseries and happiness that it comes across its journey. A tree releases oxygen for human beings despite its inner plights. The sun is never tired of its duty and gives sunlight without any interruption. Why are all these elements of nature so tuned to? Education is knowledge. Knowledge comes from learning. Learning happens through experience. Familiarity is the master of life that shapes the individual. Every individual learns from nature. Nature teaches how to sustain, withdraw and advocate the prevailing situations. Some dwell into the deep realities of nature and nurture as ideal human beings. Life is a puzzle. How to solve it is a million dollar question that can never be answered so easily. The perception of life changes from individual to individual making them either physically powerful or feeble. Society is not made of only individuals. Along with individuals it has nature, emotions, spiritual powers and superstitious beliefs which bind them. Among them the most crucial and alarming is the emotions which are interrelated to others. Alone the emotional intelligence is going to guide the life of an individual. For everyone there is an inner self which makes them conscious of their deeds. The guiding force should always force the individual to choose the right path.  Writers are the powerful people who have rightly guided the society through their ingenious pen outs.  The present article is going to focus on how the major elements bound together are dominating the individual’s self through Rabindranath Tagore’s Home and the World (1916)


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-113
Author(s):  
Smilena Smilkova ◽  

The proposed material examines the creative task of students majoring in Social Pedagogy at the University „Prof. Dr. Assen Zlatarov“ in Burgas, and studying the discipline Art Pedagogy – Part 1 – Music. In the course of the lecture course students get acquainted with the elements of musical expression, as a means of figurative representations and impact of music, with different techniques concerning individual musical activities, with the endless and diverse opportunities that music provides in the use of art pedagogy for social work teachers.Verbal interpretation of music is a necessary component when working with children with special educational needs, at risk and in the norm. Looking at Tchaikovsky’s short and extremely figurative piano piece „The Sick Doll“ from his charming „Children’s Album“, in the form of a short story, tale or essay, students express their personal vision, feeling and transformation of the musical image. The aim of the task is to transcribe the sound image into a verbal one. This requires speed, flexibility and logic in thinking, through imagination and creativity in its manifestation. Children love to listen, especially when they are involved. In search of the right way to solve problems and situations, future social educators could successfully benefit from the conversion of sound into words, according to the needs and deficits of the individual or group.


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