Philosophical Review 92.2 (1983) : 169-195. SM//brackets For Gendered Language
Philosophical Review 92.2 (1983) : 169-195. SM//brackets For Gendered Language
Philosophical Review 92.2 (1983) : 169-195. SM//brackets For Gendered Language
The metaethic is Constitutivism - Constitutivism must be the starting point for ethics—
anything else can be questioned to infinite regress so only grounding normativity in
the constitutive aims of agents can create binding obligations. It also means any
external standards collapse because they eventually have to be grounded in a
constititutive claim, so the AC collapses to the NC.
conditions of action, whereas the cases we should consider first are those of duties that attach to us most
fundamentally, merely in virtue of our standing as human persons, or subjects with wills, sharing the power of
practical reason.
Impact calc: Intended harms outweigh foreseen impacts: Foreseen harms aren’t part
of the will because they’re harms that are caused regardless what an agent wills. You
could take the same action and it could have the same foreseen harms even if the
intention was different, so foreseen harms are arbitrary. It’s key to motivation
because if we were responsible for all harms then we’d never be able to pursue any
ends as foreseen harms are over demanding.
Contention
1] All agents have a right to privacy.
Anderson-Gold 10, S. (2010). Privacy, Respect and the Virtues of Reticence in Kant.
Kantian Review, 15(02), 28–42. doi:10.1017/s1369415400002429 /
Therefore there
is a negative duty of respect for humanity to refrain from such actions as unnecessarily exposing and
ridiculing the faults
of others, by softening or keeping our judgements to ourselves. Nor should we be excessively
interested in what does not concern public justice, that is, the private morality of others. Kant claims that ‘spying on the
morals of others is by itself already an offensive inquisitiveness . . . which is a everyone can rightly resist as a
violation of respect due to him’ (MM 6: 466). In particular Kant is concerned to remind us that not everything that is unconventional is
immoral and that blind imitation of ‘mores’ can be contrary to the duty that we have to improve ourselves. He says: ‘to take scandal at what is
merely unconventional but otherwise in itself good is a delusion . . . an error dangerous and destructive to virtue’ (MM 6: 464). This is because
duties of self-perfection and enlightenment require us to develop and maintain a critical use of our own reason in community with others, not a
timid deference to popular opinion. Resistance to ‘spying’ on one’s morals is ‘rightful’, and part of what it means to have a
right to privacy. Acknowledging ‘zones’ of personal privacy, wherein we do not pry and seek to know the details of a person’s affairs,
is a sign of respect. A certain social distance is due persons. Thus, a certain level of ‘good manners’ can be said to be ‘owed’ to others
and to be part of our own moral development. This remains true even at the level of our response to the faults of others. Kant claims that the
signs of respect that we afford others when they display certain moral failings can make them desire to be worthy. He cautions us even in
confronting error in the ‘logical use’ of reason not to be harsh, not to accuse others publicly of absurdity or poor judgement. Rather Kant
recommends a patient explanation of the ‘possibility’ of error so as to preserve the individual’s selfrespect. Far from being a
rigid ‘individualist’ in his understanding of moral virtue, Kant demonstrates considerable insight into how certain types of ‘social virtues’
operate to support and promote virtue in others. Social virtues such as affability and hospitality may be but ‘tokens’ or indirect signs of
underlying mental attitudes but they are not deceptions because, Kant assumes, mature individuals understand how such behaviours operate
to produce good social relationships. Such social virtues bind us to others and create duties of reciprocity such as
gratitude for favours rendered and thus these ‘virtues’ recreate themselves in others. Here Kant recognizes and affirms the ‘causal’
cultural relations that exist in the development of empirical character4 and our duties in relation to creating and maintaining those social
empirical connections.
2] The AC would coerce candidates two disclose info against their will which is a
violation of their freedom to pursue their own actions.
3] Theirs no a priori distinction between agents because they all share the constitutive
aim of action, thus that negates because universalizability requires that all obligations
apply to everyone equally to generate reciprocal obligations.
Publicity principle doesn’t turn the nc:
A] the publicity principle is a test of a maxim’s morality, i.e. whether it could be willed
by the policymaker but doesn’t mandate that policies are passed that make stuff
public
B] the publicity principle applies to actions taken by policymakers but candidates for
public office aren’t policymakers yet
C] the publicity principle is an imperfect duty because it results in beneficial
consequences but a violation of freedom is a perfect duty because it results in a
contradiction in conception
D] Even if it’s true openness is good coercion to achieve that end is a violation