Losing Sense of Humanity

Losing the Sense of Humanity

Immanuel Kant, the German philosopher of the 18th century, in his book Grounding for metaphysics of Morals introduce the deontological concept of ethics. He presented the concept of “Good Will”, and talked about the idea of Duty behind moral acts. He lived the peak years of the industrial revolution in the 18th century. Effectively his writings about morality and the deontological school of ethics can be analyzed with the social and economic impact in that time. This revolution made an important turning point in history; some of its aspects are notable while others seen to be abstract to people. The unseen consequence of the technological revolution is the step toward chaos. We are inside a moving train stealing our core humanity. It is in the first place by showing that man rules with respect to rules, then in the second place, by displaying how we are creatures that dominate other creatures; that I will try to show how human beings are deviating from their nature and losing their sense of humanity.

We are creatures that dominate other creatures. What makes us superior to animals is our sense of dignity. Human beings are valuable above all prices. People are irreplaceable. If child dies, this is a tragedy, even if another child is born in the same family, and the tragedy will remain in the house. In opposite, if you break a printer machine it is fine as long you can get another similar one. People are unique; every single person has his unique characters that made him different from others. “In the kingdom of ends everything has either a price or a dignity.” In fact, two things support Kant’s view about human dignity. First people have desires that mere things don’t. Things have value for people as long as they satisfy human ends. A car is valuable if you desire to go from a place to another, but apart from such desire the car has no value. Then if we are going to distinguish between mere things and animals, Kant provides another reason that shows human dignity, hence his superiority on animals. We are the only rational agent capable of taking decisions, setting goals and exercising critical thinking. And by doing so we become greater than other beings.-with the power of peace and control- “Peace will be found only in a thorough critical examination of our reason” . Consequently the only way that moral goodness can exist is for rational creatures to act from a good will. By their superior human nature, human beings tend to dominate other beings. Animal have intrinsic needs, while only angels are free from any desire, thus when a human with various desires acts objectively in a good way as if he walked a step beyond angels…a step of domination among beings on earth. “By “kingdom” I understand a systematic union of different rational beings through common laws. Now laws determine ends as regards