FREEDOM AS

FOUNDATION FOR
MORAL ACTS
MODULE 3
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Present Kant’s philosophy on freedom and morality,
the principles of justice and fairness.
2. Describe the principle of justice and fairness and the
different kinds of justice.
3. Explain the justice and fairness in taxation in the
Philippines
Immanuel Kant
formulated the
positive conception
of freedom as the
free capacity for
choice
KANT'S
PHILOSOPHY
ON FREEDOM
 FREEDOM
Freedom is the right to control one's actions based on
reason, not desire.
Autonomy derives from the Greek term, which translates
into self-legislator.
The principle, then, is not to live by the animalistic rules
forced on them from birth, but rather to live by the laws
that you enforce on yourself.
From Kant's point of view, libertarian freedom is not
absolute, but in fact, it is the subjugation of oneself to
one's wish.
 FREEDOM
There is only one inherent right, "says Kant,"
freedom (independence from being limited by the
option of another) to the degree that it can coexist
with the freedom of each other following universal
law".
Kant opposes any other justification for the state,
in particular by arguing that the welfare of people
can not be the foundation of state power.
 FREEDOM

He claims that the state can not legally

enforce any specific definition of
happiness on its people. It will be for the
dictator to see people as infants, believing
that they are incapable of grasping what is
beneficial or detrimental to themselves.
 FREEDOM

Freedom is not the only reason for the ideals that

underlies the state. In Theory and Practice, Kant
makes equality the first of three concepts, such as
the freedom of a human being as a member of a
state, the dignity of each person as a subject, and
the freedom of any member of the commonwealth
as a resident.
 FREEDOM

“Theory and Practice” Freedom

highlighted the autonomous right of all
individuals to conceive of happiness in
their way. Interference with another’s
freedom is understood as coercing the
other to be happy as the former sees fit.
 MORALITY
Kant based his ethical philosophy on the idea
that reason should be used to decide how
people will behave. He did not attempt to
recommend concrete action but advised that
reason should be used to decide how to
behave. Below are the main Kant’s
philosophy on morality.
 MORALITY
1. GOOD WILL AND DUTY
Kant based the idea of obligation on ethical law.
the only virtue that can be uncontroversially good
is good will
Good will is unique as it is always good and retains
its moral values even though it fails to achieve its
moral intentions
Kant found good will to be a common moral
concept that openly wishes to use certain virtues
for moral purposes.
 MORALITY

good will is a wider conception than the will of obligation

A will which acts out of obligation can be described as a will
which overcomes barriers to the preservation of moral law.
Kant believes that only actions committed concerning
obligation have moral meaning. This is not to suggest that
actions performed solely in compliance with duty are
meaningless (they still deserve recognition and
encouragement), but that special respect is granted to acts
performed out of duty.
 MORALITY

Kant’s definition of obligation does not mean that

people carry out their duties reluctantly. While duty
also restricts people and induces them to act
against their inclinations, it still stems from the
voluntariliness of an agent or a person: they want
to abide by moral law. Therefore, when an agent
takes duty action, it is because reasonable
interests matter most to them than their opposing
inclinations.
 MORALITY
2. PERFECT AND IMPERFECT DUTIES
duties emerge because failure to perform them will either
result in a contradiction of conception or a contradiction of
will
The perfect duty is always true.
Imperfect duty requires flexibility.
Kant believes that perfect duty is more important than an
imperfect duty: when a conflict of duty arises, perfect duty
must be carried out.
 MORALITY
3. CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE
command unconditionally
Irrespective of our wishes or desires, a categorical
imperative binds us as everyone has a responsibility not to
lie, regarless of conditions and even though it is in our
interest to do so.
A hypothetical imperative is one that we must fulfill if we
are to satisfy our desires or command conditionally on
your having a relevant desire.
We owe an obligation to reason because we are rational
agents; thus, rational moral principles extend to all
rational agents at all times.
 MORALITY
4. UNIVERSALIZABILITY
an act is only permissible if one can have the principle that
allows an action to be the universal law by which everybody
acts
The maxim is not rational because it is theoretically
impractical to universalize
The maxim may also be unethical because it causes an
inconsistency in the will when it is universalized
Kant argued that morality was the objective law of reason:
just as objective physical laws involved physical action.
 MORALITY

Objective rational law requires rational action.

assumed that a perfectly rational being would also be
perfectly moral since a perfectly reasonable being feels it
necessary to do what is rationally necessary
humans had to comply with their subjective will with
objective rational rules, which he called conformity
obligations
objective morality is fundamental and can not change
depending on the circumstances
 MORALITY

5. HUMANITY AS AN END IN ITSELF

The second interpretation of Kant's Categorical
Imperative is to view life as an end in itself: “Act in such
a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own
person or in the person of another, always at the same
time as an end and never simply as a means.”(Immanuel
Kant, Groundwork fo the Metaphysics of Morals)
 MORALITY

Kant argued that rational beings should never be

viewed simply as a means to ends; they must also
be viewed as ends themselves, demanding equal
regard for their own logical motives.
reason motivates morality: it allows us to value
reason as motivation in all beings, including others.
 MORALITY
Kant's expounded five moral philosophies
(1) The goodwill and duty where he described it as one of a
kind because it is always good and maintain moral values. It
is a moral concept that freely seeks to use values for moral
reasons.
good will is more of a conception rather than obligation
A will that acts out of duty can be defined as a will that
overcomes the obstacles to the protection of moral law.
 MORALITY

(2) Kant differentiate perfect and imperfect duties

Perfect duties for Kant is always true and it is more
important than imperfect duties. Telling the truth is an
example of a perfect duty.
in perfect duty, it is a must to do what is good while
imperfect duty you do good but it is not an obligation to
do so.
 MORALITY

(3) Kant also made a distinction between categorical

imperative and hypothetical imperative.
The categorical imperative for him is a rule of behavior that
is unconditional or absolute for all agents or persons whose
truth or argument does not depend on any purpose or end.
a hypothetical imperative is a rule of behavior relating to a
person the idea that only if he or she desires a certain end
and has decided to act on that desire
 MORALITY

(4) Universalizability is was set off by Kant. The theory of

universalizability centered on the action to be acceptable
or permissible, this theory must be applied to all citizens
without any contradictions. Meaning, when someone
commits a crime he or she will be punished regardless of
social and economic standing. The law must be applicable
to all.
 MORALITY

(5) Humanity as an end itself of Kant pointed out that a

human intrinsic worth does not depend on something
else, it does not depend on whether a person loves his
or her life or makes other people's lives better. A human
being live so he or she has value.
3.KANT’S PHILOSOPHY ON JUSTICE AND FAIRNESS

(1) Justice involves external acts through which

an individual may directly or indirectly influence
others.
(2) Justice does not affect the desires, wishes, or
needs of others.
(3) Justice is concerned primarily with the nature
of interpersonal relationships and not with their
substance.
 JUSTICE AND FAIRNESS
The first two concepts of justice of Kant include the
voluntary ideals of benevolence and charity, while justice
concerns whether or not we value the fair right of others
to live their lives as they see fit. The third concept of
justice illustrates a situation, let say if Mr. A buys
something from a store, justice is served if the nature of
the partnership is voluntary. If the store expects to
benefit from the sale or how much the store earns then
these and related concerns pertain to the substance of
the sale and do not fall under the purview of justice.
 JUSTICE AND FAIRNESS

Being just and fair is not about having influence

with other people particularly to those in the
higher-ups or those who are considered
influential. If this is the situation then justice and
fairness are in trouble. Desires, wishes, or needs
of others has nothing to do with justice, it does
not matter. An interpersonal relationship is more
valuable than content. The interpersonal
relationship must be voluntary.
3.1 TAXATION IN THE PHILIPPINES THE
RULES EMBODIED UNDER THE LAW

Taxation policy in the Philippines is regulated primarily by

the Constitution of the Philippines and the three Republic
Acts.
(1) Constitution: Article VI, Section 28 of the Constitution
provides that "the rules of taxation shall be uniform and
equal" and that "a democratic system of taxation shall be
established by the Congress."
 TAXATION

(2) National law National Internal Revenue Code—

enacted as Republic Act No. 8424 or the Tax
Reform Act of 1997 nd subsequent laws amending
it; most recently, the Law of the Republic No.
10963 or the Law on Tax Reform for Acceleration
and Inclusion was amended
 TAXATION

(3) Local laws: the major sources of revenue for local

government units ( LGUs) are taxes imposed under the
Republic Act No. 7160 or the Local Government Code of
1991 and those imposed on revenues levied under state
law.
 TAXATION

(4) Taxes levied at national level are collected by

the Office of Internal Revenue ( BIR), whereas
those levied at local level ( i.e. provincial, city,
municipal and barangay) are collected by the
Office of Internal Revenue ( BIR).
 TAXATION

Under the 1987 Philippine Constitution mentioned above,

“the rules of taxation shall be uniform and equal.”
According to LawDictionary.com, (2015) “Uniformity in
taxation means equity in the burden of taxation, which
can not occur without uniformity in the mode of
assessment as well as in the rate of taxation.
 TAXATION

It must also be applied to all property subject to

taxation so that all property can be taxed alike
and equally.
On the other hand, equity is the principle that
taxes should be equal and should be based on the
willingness of different individuals to pay, which is
generally related to their income as stated in the
Ideceoneline.com dictionary.
 TAXATION
an individual should pay an income tax based on his or
her salary received with a certain percentage and the
property can be taxed according to assessed value and
rates of the property. An individual as well can be taxed
based on hs or her capacity to pay taxes. The
government cannot force an individual to pay taxes
without a job or no house owned, though it is mandatory
under the law. It is only applicable who has income and
properties respectively.