Philosophy question?

[greenerworld007]

Hi,

According to Emanual Kant's philosophy, which of the following commands could be universalized?
a. always charge less for your product than your competiors
b. give all of your money to those that have less than you
c. always keep your promises
d. tell the truth when it's convenient to do so

[intellectualammo]

Hi,

According to Emanual Kant's philosophy, which of the following commands could be universalized?
a. always charge less for your product than your competiors
b. give all of your money to those that have less than you
c. always keep your promises
d. tell the truth when it's convenient to do so

I think the answer is most definately "c".

He goes into talking about keeping promises in his writing, answer "b" sounds like something Jesus would say not Kant, "a" deals with business efficacy, and "d" is outright pragmatism in which Kant's all for a duty oriented ethical code, not one like with pragmatism, where whatever works to achieve a certain end, goes, whether moral or not. So that's why I think it's "c".

This page I just quickly found says this:

Kant's example of a perfect duty to others concerns a promise you might consider making but have no intention of keeping in order to get needed money. Naturally, being rational requires not contradicting oneself, but there is no self-contradiction in the maxim “I will make lying promises when it achieves something I want”. An immoral action clearly does not involve a self-contradiction in this sense (as would the maxim of finding a married bachelor). Kant's position is that it is irrational to perform an action if that action's maxim contradicts itself once made into a universal law of nature. The maxim of lying whenever it gets what you want generates a contradiction once you try to combine it with the universalized version that all rational agents must, by a law of nature, lie when it gets what they want.

(from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-moral/)

So yeah, my answer would be "c" all the way!

[Winifred]

I wish I could comment, but I really Kant.