Kant Philosophy

Categorical Imperative: the idea that an action must only be considered to be of good moral value if it could be determined for all humankind

                3 Maxims:

                1. “Act only according to that maxims whereby you can at the same time will that it  should become a universal law.”

                2. “Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the  person of  any other, always at the same time as an end and never merely as a means to an end.”

                3. “Therefore, every rational being must so act as if he were through his maxim always a legislating member in the universal kingdom of ends.”

Duty: you must perform an action out of duty in order to avoid moral confusion and selfishness

Good will: one cannot be completely confident in whether human nature is naturally good or not, but that one must strive for the moral good of everyone, even if it means happiness is not a result of your actions

Moral Theology: holds the idea that happiness and the morality of men is not one in the same and that man’s will is not necessarily what should be grounds for determining an action as morally correct, but that there needs to be some standard- this idea suggests that Kant believes in the existence of a higher being other than man

Self- Knowledge: an understanding of one’s own conduct as being either pure or impure, that people have psychological complexities in that their actions can be corrupt because of selfish motives, but  to have moral perfection you must practice self-awareness