Do you remember the last time you tried to convince your friends to do something out of their comfort zone because it was the morally right thing to do. And there is always someone in the group who argues on following lines “yeah, that’s fine, but it doesn’t apply in the real world.”
What if I told you morality has a significant place in the real world. And i am not talking about good karma and bad karma. I am talking about law. Yes, those rules and regulations, such as no jaywalking, no loud music after 11pm, no stealing. They weren’t made just for the convenience of daily living but for the betterment of society on the grounds of morality. Morality is the foundation behind civic laws and governance in general. It is the foundation behind most nation’s constitution.
Naturally, my curiosity drove me toward books and I started reading works of eminent philosophers on morality. On this journey, I stumbled upon the works of Immanuel Kant. To sum up my experience of reading Kant, It was brutal!! But it helped me better understand morality and figure out factors that make an action moral or immoral. One of the ideas of Kant that appealed to me was that “morality comes from a sense of duty and from the assumption that human beings are rational beings.”
Kant says that an act of morality is moral not because of its consequence or effect on the actor or surroundings. An act of righteousness is moral in itself and doesn’t require any impact metric. Alright, let’s break it down with an example.
Consider Adam, a successful businessman who sells organic granola. Adam claims that his granolas are made of all organic ingredients. One day, the food inspector, Bryan, conducts an inspection. Adam, aware of this inspection, prepares the entire batch of granola using organic ingredients, but for the rest of the year, he knowingly uses non-organic ingredients. Now, let’s examine Kant’s perspective
Is Adam’s act moral on the day of the inspection?
According to Kant, the answer is no because Adam’s intention was to deceive by using non-organic ingredients on other days.
Is Adam’s act moral on the remaining days?
Again, according to Kant, the answer is no because Adam willingly chose to use non-organic ingredients despite knowing it was morally wrong.
Kant’s reasoning focuses on the intention behind the action. Even though using organic ingredients is morally right, if it is done unwillingly or with deceptive intentions, it becomes immoral according to Kant’s theory of morality.
One inquisitive thought that emerges is that if morality is defined by duty and free will, then isn’t morality very subjective? Luckily Kant thought about that as well, which I will share with you in my next post.
Until then, enjoy your time staring at blank space. Ciao!