Kant Moral Law Theory Essay Example for Free

Kant Moral Law Theory Essay â€Å"Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe the oftener and more steadily we reflect on them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me. † – Kant (1788), pp, 193, 259 Immanuel Kant introduced and initiated his ‘moral law theory’ in the late 18th century. The doctrine in question sought to establish and constitute a supreme or absolute principle of morality. Kant disputes the existence of an ‘ethical system’, whereby moral obligations are obligations of ‘purpose’ or ‘reason’. The accuracy of actions [i. e. the rightness or wrongness of an individual deed] is determined by its configuration and conformity with regard to ‘moral law’. Evidently, according to Kant, an immoral transaction is invariably contemplated as an illogical or unreasonable occurrence or action. The supreme moral principle is a consistent working criterion that proves to be practically helpful and theoretically enlightening when used by rational agents as a guide for making personal choices (Kant VI). A supreme guiding moral principle must carry with it an absolute necessity and be done out of duty to the moral law in order to be free from corruption. Kant believed in a fair and impartial law. He accredited and affirmed the presence of an objective moral law that we, as humans, were/are able to identify with through the process of reasoning. Kant argued that we are able to recognise and distinguish moral law, without making reference to the possible consequence or outcome. Immanuel Kant declared a differentiation between statements [i.e. posteriori and priori] that he believed to coincide with moral law. A posteriori statement is one that is based on experience of the material world. In opposition, a priori statement requires no such knowledge; it is known independent of the phenomenal world. Furthermore, Kant continued to make additional distinctions with regard to analytic and synthetic statements. An analytic statement, he claims, is one that by its very nature is necessarily true, as the predicate is included within the definition of the subject. Example: – [â€Å"all squares have four sides†]. The previous statement is of an analytic nature, as the predicate, i. e. the square having four sides, is implicit and is part of the definition of the subject – [â€Å"square†]. An analytic statement is necessarily true – true by its own authority, and is purely explicative, as it tells us nothing new about the subject. In contrast, a synthetic statement is one in which the predicate is not included in the definition of the subject, and thus is not necessarily true. A synthetic statement also tells us something new about the subject. Prior to Kant, it was widely accepted that there were only two types of statement: a priori analytic and a posteriori synthetic. Kant accepted these two statements although believed there to be a third: a priori synthetic statement. These are statements that are known independent of experience that may or may not be true. Kant claimed that these priori synthetic principles are inherent within us and therefore subsequently form the basis of all moral decision making. Kant’s theory is based on and is primarily concerned with the aspect of ‘duty’. Kant believed and promoted the notion that to act morally is one’s ‘duty’, and one’s ‘duty’ is to act and proceed in accordance to the principles of moral law. Due to this, Kant’s theory is categorised and distinguished as a ‘deontological argument’. A deontological theory is one that maintains the moral rightness or wrongness of an action and depends on its fundamental qualities, and is independent of the nature of its consequence – â€Å"Duty for duty’s sake†. This perspective can be viewed in contrast to the beliefs and ‘rules’ associated and belonging to teleological arguments, i. e. utilitarianism. Immanuel Kant argued that moral requirements are based on a standard of rationality he dubbed the â€Å"Categorical Imperative. The categorical imperative has derived from the initial belief and notion that humans base their moral judgment on pure reason alone. This view can be viewed in contrast to a ‘morality theory’, which assumed/s that human’s actions are guided by emotions or desires. Example: When deciding what I ought to say to a friend who is distraught. Rationale would dictate that I give sensible advice, whereas my emotions may impulsively tell me to give comfort and sympathy. The categorical imperative declares and differentiates between obligatory and forbidden actions, and places further emphasis on the notion of ‘duty’. This statement can be strengthened through the following quotation – [â€Å"All in imperatives command either hypothetically or categorically†¦ If the action would be good simply as a means to something else, then the imperative is hypothetical; but if the action is represented as a good in itself†¦ then the imperative is categorical. †]. Example: If someone tells me that they will buy me dinner if I give them a lift into town, then this is a conditional action and would fall into the hypothetical imperative category. Conversely, if I think that I should give my friend a lift into town with no other agenda (i. e. she will not buy me dinner because of it), then this is a categorical imperative because it is independent of my interest and could apply to other people as well as myself. There are three principles of the categorical imperative: * Universal law; * Treat humans as ends in themselves; * Act as if you live in a kingdom of ends. 1. The categorical imperative is [â€Å"Do not act on any principle that cannot be universalised†]. In other words, moral laws must be applied in all situations and all rational beings universally, without exception. 2. [â€Å"Act that you treat humanity, both in your own person and in the person of every other human being, never merely as a means, but always at the time as an end. †] – The previous statement declares that we must never treat people as means to an end. You can never use human beings for another purpose, to exploit or enslave them. Humans are rational and the highest point of creation, and so demand unique treatment. 3. The quotation [â€Å"So act as if you were through your maxim a law-making member of a Kingdom of ends†] states Kant’s belief in the fact that humans should behave as though every other individual was an ‘end’. In conclusion, it is arguable that the categorical imperative possesses a sense of authority with regard to what actions are permitted and forbidden under Kant’s moral law theory.

A Persuasive Essay Against School Uniforms :: School Uniforms Argumentative

High school is typically a time when kids begin to distinguish themselves from one another. Students begin to develop their own sense of personal style, desperately trying to both fit in and stand out simultaneously. Being self-conscious and often lacking the confidence needed to assert themselves, teens are forced to use clothing and outward appearance as the means to manifest this individuality. Thus, students should not be forced to wear uniforms to school. Standard uniforms are unproven deterrents to student violence; are a "Band-Aid" to cover up the real problems faced by children and teens; and they violate students' right of self-expression, depriving them of their search for identity. There is something comforting about school children and teenagers dressed in pleats and plaid. Maybe it is a reminder of past times, or conjures up thoughts of order and safety. Whatever the reason, school uniforms are getting a lot of ?wear? these days, yet remain an unproven deterrent to school violence. No long-term, formal studies have been done with regards to the effectiveness of school uniforms, but many schools have kept their own informal statistics, such as the Long Beach School District. These statistics offered by Long Beach are often most cited as a proven deterrent to school violence, after adopting a mandatory uniform policy in 1994. According to Richard Van Der Laan, school crime has dropped over seventy-five percent, while attendance has reached an all-time high. One question we must ask ourselves is this, ?Is it the uniforms, or the induction of them that is solving the problem?? Maybe it is the school and parents showing some ?back-bone? which is affecting t he students, not the clothing. If you are a skeptic, get in line. There is no concrete evidence proving uniforms alone cause such dramatic reductions in crime, but rather, these policies appear to act as nothing more that a ?Band-Aid? that fails to address the real causes of youth violence. Although this violence, including sexual assault, can be linked to ?free-dress?, it is not dependent upon it, and points to deeper, more significant problems within the youth community. Violence is not learned by clothing, but rather through unfit home situations, negative friendships, and even popular culture (including emulation of television, media, music, and movies). A simple change in dress will not abolish these problems, but merely hide them for a time.

Interview: Occupational Therapy and Child Essay

The current interview process is in regards to a child who is four years old and was diagnosed with autism when he was two years old. Children with autism often display deficits in language, social interaction, behaviors, and sensory and perceptual processing (Case-Smith &ump; O’Brien, 2010). Therefore, the purpose of the current interview is to investigate the child’s overall needs, strengths, and weaknesses in regards to the child’s specific condition to gain an in-depth understanding of the child. The goal of the interview is to collect thorough information about the child to allow the practitioner to gain an understanding of the child and parent’s needs for therapy. Furthermore, the interview facilitates rapport between the practitioner and the child and parent and expresses the practitioner’s desire to understand and empathize with the child. It is important to establish a relationship with the child and the parent to allow for an open discussion and a successful intervention. The practitioner should establish proper eye contact and engage with the child properly to gain the child’s trust during the interview process. Structure of interviewing The structure of the interview is made available so there are smooth transition within the interview. The questions are phrased in an open-ended form to promote more conversation with the client and allows the practitioner to gain more information about the client. The questions in the interview are directed to the parent due to the young age of the child and the child’s diagnosis of autism. Furthermore, according to Stone and Hogan (1993) â€Å"parents offer an unique perspective on the child’s behaviors, one that is acquired over time and across different contexts and input from parents provides an invaluable supplement to clinical observations.† The intake form is formatted in a style where the practitioner may easily ask the questions and transcribe the information from the client. The typical sections of the interview are the opening, body, and closure (Sommers-Flannagan,J. &ump; Sommers-Flannagan, R., 2003). The intake form contains information regarding demographics, medical history, treatment history, and developmental history in the opening section. In the body section of the interview, information about the occupational performance areas, performance skills, and performance patterns are addressed. Lastly, the interview concludes by requesting the personal goals and major concerns for the client and parent. Opening In the beginning of the session, the practitioner introduces oneself to the client by stating the practitioner’s name, qualification and role in the setting (Crepeau, Cohn, &ump; Schell, 2009). In the opening of the interview, the practitioner needs to inform the client of the purpose of the interview and the type of questions that are going to be asked (Crepeau et al., 2009) and discuss about confidentiality (Sommers-Flannagan, J. &ump; Sommers-Flannagan, R., 2003). Confidentiality is an integral aspect of the interview process and is important to the client and practitioner. Establishing confidentiality encourages the client to participate with a healthy attitude and lead to effective sessions in the future. According to Sommers-Flannagan, J. and Sommers-Flannagan, R. (2003), practitioners in the opening of the session have a duty to make a positive first impression or they will lose their client’s trust. Practitioners need to relay that they care about their clients both with verbal and non-verbal cues (Sommers-Flannagan, J. &ump; Sommers-Flannagan, R., 2003). In the current case, the practitioner seeks information about the client’s demographics, medical history, treatment history, and developmental history. Although the goal in the beginning is to create a warm setting (Sommers-Flannagan, J. &ump; Sommers-Flannagan, R., 2003), it is important to learn about the client’s background information. In order to develop a proper treatment plan for the future, it is essential to know about the client’s history. Demographics questions are posed to gain general information about the client’s age, contact information, and caretaker’s information. Questions regarding medical history are present to help provide information regarding any medical disability that may affect the client’s current condition. Treatment history questions provide how effective the previous interventions were for the client and a framework for future interventions. Information regarding the client’s developmental history are asked to understand the client’s milestones and areas that the child may display delays. These questions provide the practitioner with a thorough background about the client and enables the practitioner to formulate a direct and specific treatment plan for the client. Body The body of the interview incorporates the development and exploration phase, which is the time when the practitioner and the client collaborate together to develop the personal story (Crepeau, et al., 2009). Moreover, during this stage of the interview process, the practitioner asks questions that are related to the client’s occupation and the factors that may hinder or promote the client’s occupations. The questions in the current interview are formatted according to the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework (OTPF) (American Occupational Therapy Association, AOTA, 2008). Within the body of the interview, the following topics are addressed: areas of occupation, performance skills, and performance patterns. Areas of occupation According to AOTA (2008) the areas of occupation are: activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, education, work, leisure, play, social participation, and rest and sleep. In the interview, the practitioner poses questions to investigate the child’s independence regarding activities of daily living, which are bathing, eating, dressing self, and grooming. It is important to know how independent the child is in these areas to have an understanding regarding the child’s personal needs. Children with autism often are capable of learning tasks such as self-care, but it is important to know the child’s level of functioning. Due to the client’s age and diagnosis, the client is reliant on the care taker or parent to assist with instrumental activities of daily living. Education and play are the child’s primary occupations, therefore, it is important to recognize the child’s needs and capabilities in these areas. The intake interview asks questions regarding the child’s experience in school to help describe the child’s learning abilities. Children with autism often have developmental delays which impact the child’s abilities to grasp or process information (Case-Smith &ump; O’Brien, 2010). The level of functioning vary for each child on the autism spectrum, therefore, it is essential to know the specific academic experience of the individual child. Moreover, children with autism exhibit disturbances in behavior which often impacts their progress in education (Case-Smith &ump; O’Brien, 2010), therefore it is imperative to inquire about the child’s behavior issues. It is difficult to work with individuals who display behavioral issues, and therefore, children who have autism may often be refused for services, such as education. Other difficulties children with autism often experience are with social interaction and appropriate play. Practitioners need to inquire about the child’s interaction with other individuals their age and family members (Stone &ump; Hogan, 1993). It is important to have an idea of how the child interacts, if any, and what specific activities are motivators. Children with autism may react to strange settings and activities negatively, therefore it is essential to seek information regarding tasks that may offset these behaviors. Furthermore Lord, Rutter, and Le Couteur (1997) states that it important to ask questions regarding social interaction and avoidance to differentiate between children diagnosed with fragile X from those who are diagnosed with autism. Performance Skills According to AOTA (2008), performance skills are part of the occupational therapy domain and include: sensory and perceptual skills, motor and praxis skills, emotional regulation skills, cognitive skills, and communication and social skills. These areas within the performance skills are integral information that are relevant in children diagnosed with autism. The child diagnosed with autism may display difficulties in these areas. In this section of the interview, the practitioner seeks information regarding the child’s communication skills. Children with autism may not have spoken language, but may exhibit various communicative skills with the parent. According to Lord et. al (1997), questions regarding communication, such as directing attention, expressing interest in others, social interaction and imitating responses should be asked because children with autism often display disturbances in these areas. Also these forms of questions help differentiate between a child who has intellectual disability and autism (Lord et al., 1997). Other questions directed to children with autism are in regards to sensory processing skills. Children who are diagnosed with autism often haven an aversion to sensory stimulations and may over or under react to sensory input such as touch, sound, taste, and sight. Children with autism may display difficulty processing sensory information (Zager, 2005). Since children with autism often display issues with sensory processing and over stimulation, it is important to identify what specific form of sensory difficulties the child experiences. Difficulties in these areas may also pose problems with child’s ability to regulate their emotions, which leads to disturbing behavioral problems. Therefore, questions regarding these issues are pertinent to identify in order to have a successful intervention. Another focus within the performance skills domain is motor skills. Children with autism have developmental delays (Stone and Hogan, 1993) and this results in the child’s difficulty with motor and motor planning skills. Children with autism often have difficulties with praxis and therefore are often unable to perform novel tasks. Questions directed towards investigation of child’s praxis is important to identify because this provides the practitioner with an understanding of what the child is capable of doing. Understanding the child’s capabilities will allow the practitioner to have a foundation to establish proper therapeutic interventions. Performance Pattern Within this domain of the occupational therapy practice framework (AOTA, 2008), the different areas include: routines, roles, and habits. This area is relevant to children with autism because of the child’s high tendency to engage in repetitive behaviors (Zager, 2005). Therefore, it is encouraged for practitioners to inquire about the child’s daily routines, habits, and roles. Some of the habits (or behaviors) children with autism exhibit are unhealthy and practitioners should seek information about the specific behaviors that are harmful to the child. Often, children with autism display tantrums due to change in routine. If the practitioner does not seek information regarding these types of behaviors, then it may halt progress in the intervention. Closing In the last section of the interview, the practitioner needs to transition smoothly to the end the session (Crepeau et al., 2009). It is important for the practitioner to identify the child and parent’s goals and clear up any questions the client may have regarding the interview and the future sessions. The practitioner and client collaborate together to establish goals that are of primary to the needs of the client. Practitioners need to clarify any questions the client may have and provide information about the future sessions.

A Step On The Right Direction With Computer Science

Rachel Thomas Composition I 3 December 2015 A Step in the Right Direction with Computer Science In the hospital, a mother of 3 is found to have a pre-cancerous tumor lurking in her pancreases that could have progressed to a deadly stage if not removed promptly. Through the use of the hospital’s robotic surgical system, it was able to successfully remove the tumor allowing this mother to return home to her family. This was made possible because of the advances in computer science; Computer science is the scientific and useful way to deal with computation and its applications. The study of computer science itself studies various conditions of the use of programming languages, complex systems and artificial intelligence. Human–computer interaction considers the challenges in making computers useful, usable, and universally accessible to humans. In today’s world, as technology is rapidly perfected, society as a whole needs to incorporate the latest advances in technology that make one’s life more efficient, convenient, and useful in their everyday lives. For example, the blending of inventive innovations with scientific discoveries relating to the brain opens better approaches for taking care of data, treating sicknesses, and perhaps making robots with human qualities. Over the past century, we have aided our vision and hearing with lenses and amplifiers. â€Å"During the next century, we will probably replace eyes and ears with light and sound detectors and computer chips that sendShow MoreRelatedMy Future as an Electrical Engineer1008 Words   |  5 Pagesengineering and mechanical engineering. Beyond this four, sources separate to other main branches. Based on the electrical engineering is concerned with the basic forms of energy that run the world, there is a hopeful future in taking this major as my direction of future. 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