The Objectivity and Rationality of Morality Essay

The Objectivity and Rationality of Morality According to Kant morality is rational and objective. It is based on rational human reasoning. For Kant it is not the consequences of an action that make it moral but the reasoning or intention that goes behind the choices one makes. What Kant is saying is that the only thing which can be qualified as good is good intention. When the intention behind an action is good, (what Kant calls the Good Will) then the act is morally plausible because it is being done out of duty. The will in this sense†¦show more content†¦For most people morality is influenced by their religion or theology. Religion most often holds that morality is not the work of man but of God. What is called the conscience (the naturally infused mechanism that gives us our sense of morality) is put into mankind by God. Others may define what is morally acceptable based on their experiences. Hence what they call morals may be principles they have imposed on themselves to live by as a result of previous experiences so as to guide them for what lies ahead. Morality can therefore be said to be relative. What may be accepted by one individual as moral may not be accepted by the other. Similarly what may be accepted as moral in one society may not be accepted by the other. For Kant, what is moral is only justified when it is acted out of duty. To act out of duty means to have given thought to an action before carrying it out and to have considered its consequences. Acting out of inclination for Kant requires no thought. This is because almost any man is bound to do what he has been groomed to do by his culture in order to satisfy his conscience. Kofi comes from a society where he has been taught to share with and give to the hungry. 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