It is
the belief of Immanuel Kant that a person should follow their duty
and never lie even if that lie causes more good than bad. He also
stated that the consequences of not doing the right thing in the
context of lying should be ignored. I for one think that duty is not
assigned to all people at birth. Duty is interpreted personally by an
individual. Maybe one person thinks their duty is to help people
while another person believes their duty is to pick up trash and
refuse in the woods. Having a sense of duty is personal and I believe
that Kant's blanket statement of duty is pretentious and adversarial.
Right and wrong is a mixture of long time ethics and views based off
of how one was raised, religious rules, or even learned experiences
that changed a person's perspective. I think blanket statements
are far too general and people are too different to all conform to
one thing stated by one person who thinks his way should be the only
way. Donald Trump does blanket statements and
believes his way is the only way; although, Kant was allegedly sober
while Donald Trump may drink and party. Somethings I personally do
not know or, quite frankly, care to know. People should be able to choose their own path and if that is one of destruction and dishonesty, they will have their own set of consequences to answer to. People having different views on right and wrong is the reason the world works s it does. If we all followed Kant's beliefs there would be no accomplishments outside of certain academics and those who are affected by misfortune would be forced to deal with their vices alone.
I agree with you wholeheartedly on the blanket statements that Kant and people like him use. Duty cannot be something universal, unless that universal is so broad it is able to encompass not only each person individually, but in every aspect of life they come across. Duty should be something that we each feel compelled to do for our own reasons, not something that is ordered upon by an authority. Beyond that, how can someone determine what is good or bad for the duty of others? This question comes back and back again in this course, but for good reason.
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