Ethics of Dignity and Freedom

Kant several times made comments on the philosophy of other philosophers. One of the main ones is on retributivism. This theory states that criminals should be punished for the harm they have caused. According to Kant, punishment is a part of justice and that justice is not served unless the guilty party is punished. He thinks by punishing them we are paying them back for what they have done. Kant also says that punishment is justified even if it causes more misery than happiness in the world.

Another theory that Kant has a different view on is that of Alexander Baumgartner who says that God is the legislator and author of all natural obligations, because he is the author of the world. Kant disagrees though and says that a categorical command must lie in the nature of things, not in God. He disuses that there is a necessity for believing in God, and often spoke of religion as being naturalistic. (Rossi 2009)

Autonomy and heteronomy are two ideas describing the types of free will. Autonomy is to "act on objective and universally valid rules of conduct, certified by reason alone." (Blackburn 2008) In Kant's theory, autonomy is the position held by rational humans and that "freedom does not consist in being bound by no law, but by laws that are in some sense of one's own making". (Johnson 2008) Heteronomy is the opposite of autonomy. Someone with heteronymous will is determined by an outside force.

Kant believed that everyone had a duty to follow what he called the categorical imperative, which said that rational thinkers would see the rational course of action. It is categorical because we have free will and use rational and is imperative as it is a command. He offers 3 formulations or maxims determining the categorical imperative.

• "Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law." (Kant 1785/1993)

• "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." (Kant 1785/1993)

• "Therefore, every rational being must so act as if he were through his maxim always a legislating member in the universal kingdom of ends." (Kant 1785/1993)

The first maxim breaks down into perfect and imperfect duty and discusses moral deliberation. The first maxim is also the basis on which the other two are built. The second maxim states that our free will is the source of rational action. Number three says that we should always consider others when making a decision.

Kant's shows that moral obligation includes autonomous self-legislation, and constructivism appears to be a natural way to interpret this. Kant says that the concept of a good will as the only unqualified good. A good will acts not out of inclination, but