Unit 3 Discussion
Post and respond to the following topics on the course discussion board, and respond to other students' posts.
- Philosophers who are critical of Kant have noted that Kant's theory often leaves us with two conflicting duties. Imagine a student who is trying to finish his college degree, and he then receives a phone call informing him that his mother has been diagnosed with cancer. The student's first instinct is to go home and take care of his mother. His mother says, "stay, I want you to finish school, do not come home." How would Kant advise us in choosing between these two duties (duty to mother and duty to finish school)?
- In the past, doctors would sometimes omit telling patients the truth about their condition. For example, a patient diagnosed with a terminal illness who is about to leave on a long-awaited vacation might not be told about his terminal illness until he returned from his trip. Such decisions by doctors are now considered to be unethical and a violation of the patient's right to actively participate in his or her own treatment. Do doctors have a duty to tell their patients the truth, no matter what? Why, or why not?
- One of Kant's famous examples, illustrating the need to always act from duty, is the two shopkeepers example: one shopkeeper gives correct change even when she might be tempted not to, whereas another shopkeeper always gives correct change but does it to be liked and because she wants to be elected to city council someday. For Kant, the first shopkeeper without external motivation is actually more morally praiseworthy. Does this same distinction apply to companies? Should companies always act from the right intention, and not to increase their market share? Explain your response.