Atomistic
Bernard WiIlliams accused Kantian ethics of being 'atomistic', making people selfishly concerned with their own goodness and refusing to accept that something it would be right to do the wrong thing.

Kant encourages people to be concerned with their own moral character, to do what is right not just for others but for their own sake.
Applying the principle of humanity as an ends in itself, doing the wrong thing to protect someone else would be to sentence oneself to hell on their behalf, to use oneself as a means to an end of their happiness.

Kant's approach may be valid for a Xian, but for an atheist who do not accept God, heaven and hell as postulates, it may seem difficult to argue that the damage to an individual moral character caused by protecting someone else outweighs the good which may result from the action. eg, lying to a Gestapo officer.

Kant would argue that any rational person would see beyond the circumstance to essential humanity of the Gestapo officer, and would understand that by making their right to honesty conditional, this would be more corrosive than the damage the officer may choose to do with the information.
Furthermore, Kant notes that all consequentialist systems rely on being able to predict something's outcome, despite the fact that predictions are often flawed and sometimes impossible. Also, by becoming actively involved in a situation, people become responsible for its outcomes. - However much one may believe that the Gestapo officer will use the information wrongly, this cannot be known for certain. nor can one know that the lie will not cause suffering in its own way. For Kant, we should not meddle, but rather do what we know to be objectively right, leaving all blame to be attached to those who choose to act immorally.

	Created by natasha.kacove over 10 years ago

Note on Kant- Strengths & Weaknesses, created by natasha.kacove on 03/06/2014.