Essay: The Concept of Duty

Sample Essay

The chapter then further elaborates that the specific compulsions of a good will are called duties. The concept of duty is premised upon three common intentions about duty.

• First, actions are authentically good quality when they are taken on for the reason of performing the duty alone.
• Second, actions cannot be judged according to their outcome, rather it is judged purely on the basis of the motivation to perform that duty.
• Third, however, related to the first two propositions, says that duties should be performed out of value for the particular law.

Kant calls these reasons ‘imperatives.’ The first reason for performing an action, the hypothetical imperative, is based on consequences and on our personal preferences. They are also contingent, meaning that they can be good or bad depending on how they are used. People choose to perform a given activity because of the hypothetical imperative. The second reason for performing an action according to Kant is called the categorical imperative. These are not based on our preferences, don’t deal with consequences of an action, and are derived a priori. They are completely separate from hypothetical imperatives. These categorical imperatives have three different formulations.

Please go to the order form to order essays, research papers, term papers, thesis, dissertation, case study, assignments on this essay topic.