Immanuel Kant is most commonly associated with Deontological Ethics, which is the belief that the morality of an action should be based on the action’s adherence to principle, rather than the good or bad consequences of the action.
Kant believed that there were certain moral principles that should always be adhered to and never violated. He believed that these universal laws applied to everyone and could be discovered through reason alone. He argued that a truly moral act would not be based on any other factors besides adherence to these principles; rather, it would be considered right simply because it adhered to these principles.
Philosopher believed that there were a set of rules that dictated what was right and wrong, and that these rules could be derived from reason. He believed that these moral laws were universal and applied to everyone in all situations.
These principles are known as categorical imperatives. These are statements which can be used as ethical guidelines for making decisions. For example, “I should not steal money” is a categorical imperative because it applies in all situations (in this case stealing any amount of money).
Also Kant believed that there were two types of duties: negative and positive. Negative duties tell us what not to do; for example, we must not murder another person or steal their property. Positive duties tell us what we should do; for example, we must love our neighbour as ourselves or give blood when required by law.
