18 Jan Your submission will be approximately

PHI115 ETHICS

Homework 3

Your work will be submitted via Blackboard. Do not write in the “Comment” field. Submissions should be attachmens in the appropriate format or written in the “Type Submission” field, which opens when you click it. Submission not in the appropriate place will be considered incomplete.

Note: this is due later than the syllabus says, since it involves writing about 250 words. It is due 3/17 by end of the day (the same time as your quiz).

In our text, we read the following formulation of the categorical imperative:

Act only according to that maxim which you can at the same time will to become universal law.

We worked on using that categorical imperative to work through some real life decisions, including whether or not to lie and whether or not to help others in times of need. But, that version is not the only version of the categorical imperative. There are two others, one of which is known as the “formular of the end in itself” or the “means/ends version.” Your task for this assignment concerns that version.

You are to read the attached work by Onora O’Neill, “A Simplified Account of Kant’s Ethics,” which discusses the means/ends version. After you read it—it’s short—you are to answer the following question in your own words, but from a Kantian perspective:

What do you think is the right thing to do in the following situation, using as your moral position only the formula of the end in itself, plus whatever relevant facts you have good reasons to add?

Situation: Suppose you are a student at Harper College, which you are. You are enrolled in a class about ethics. On the day before the test, Professor Horton is discussing study preparation for an upcoming exam. He is using an actual copy of your upcoming exam to help him in addressing issues you might face. Class is dismissed, but he leaves behind the copy of your upcoming exam. Question: do you or do you not look at it? I assume not looking at it involves picking it up and returning it to Professor Horton. I assuming looking at the exam may or may not involve returning it. So, what do you do as a good Kantian moral reasoner? Your position will involve making a moral argument, including both making a moral claim about what you would do and backing it up with reasons like Kant would give, using relevant facts and the formula of the end in itself. Specifics below:

Your submission will be approximately 250 words, which is about a page. You should write in clear, effective prose, using complete, grammatically sentences. You should explain your reasoning, laying it out as if you were explaining it to a peer who hasn’t had Introduction to Ethics. What is the right thing to do? Why are you doing it? Are there other options? Why not do those? And so on. You should also explain the formula of the end in itself, as it will figure in your reasoning. Make sure you have a topic sentence that explains your view, with the rest of your short essay elaborating on and supporting what you take to be the right thing to do as a Kantian.

Your work will be submitted via Blackboard. Do not write in the “Comment” field. Submissions should be attachmens in the appropriate format or written in the “Type Submission” field, which opens when you click it. Submission not in the appropriate place will be considered incomplete.

Assignments will be graded using the general rubric.