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Ethics and Moral Philosophy

Deontology and Kantian Ethics

The duty-based tradition that grounds morality in universalizable rational principles rather than in consequences or character, from Kant's categorical imperative to its pluralist, contractualist, and applied successors.

60-Second Review

Express review

A condensed, point-by-point summary of the module, for reviewing right before a test or exam.

  1. Kant's Categorical Imperative and the Formula of Universal Law. Kant grounds moral duty in a single rational test: act only on maxims you could will as universal law.
  2. The Formula of Humanity and Respect for Persons. Kant's second formula commands treating rational persons always as ends, never merely as means.
  3. Kant on Autonomy, Duty, and the Good Will. Only a good will acting from duty, not mere inclination, has unconditional moral worth for Kant.
  4. Ross's Prima Facie Duties and Pluralist Deontology. Ross replaced Kant's single supreme principle with several self-evident, unranked prima facie duties.
  5. Contractualism: Scanlon on What We Owe to Each Other. Scanlon grounds right and wrong in principles no one could reasonably reject for mutual regulation.
  6. Deontological Constraints and the Doctrine of Double Effect. Deontology sets agent-relative limits on harm, refined by the Doctrine of Double Effect's four conditions.
  7. Criticisms of Kantian Ethics: Rigorism and Moral Dilemmas. Kant's absolute duty not to lie, even to a murderer, exposed his ethics to the charge of rigid formalism.
  8. Deontology in Contemporary Applied Ethics. Kantian dignity and duty now shape bioethics, human rights, business ethics, and just war theory.

This module continues after "Virtue Ethics: Ancient and Contemporary" in the syllabus. If you haven't reviewed it yet, it may help set the context.

Key points

Visual module map

1Kant's Categorical Imperative and the Formula of Universal Law
2Kant on Autonomy, Duty, and the Good Will
3Contractualism: Scanlon on What We Owe to Each Other
4Deontological Constraints and the Doctrine of Double Effect
5Deontology in Contemporary Applied Ethics

Alternative visual view: a simplified sequence of some of the module's key points, in their order within the syllabus.

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Further reading

Bibliography and cited sources used to create this module.

  • Kant, I. (1785/1998). Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (M. Gregor, Trans. & Ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Ross, W.D. (1930). The Right and the Good. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  • Scanlon, T.M. (1998). What We Owe to Each Other. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  • Korsgaard, C.M. (1996). Creating the Kingdom of Ends. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Wood, A.W. (1999). Kant's Ethical Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Foot, P. (1967). "The Problem of Abortion and the Doctrine of Double Effect." Oxford Review, 5, 5–15.