Immanuel Kant is most associated with the ethical system of deontology. This system focuses on the actions that people take, rather than the outcomes of those actions. It’s sometimes referred to as the “duty ethics” because it focuses on what we owe others and how we should treat them.
Kant believed that it was impossible for us to know how to act in any given situation. Instead, he suggested that we use our reason to form principles from which we could then derive specific rules for action. For example, if we want to be moral, we should always act as if there were a Universal Law that applied to everyone. If I don’t want anyone else stealing my possessions or harming me, I shouldn’t do it either.
Philosopher believed that we all have a set of duties we must fulfill in order to be good people. These duties are universal and apply equally to everyone, regardless of their circumstances or personal beliefs.
According to Kant, there are two types of duties: perfect duties and imperfect duties. Perfect duties are those which must be fulfilled at all times – they cannot be compromised under any circumstances because they’re part of our nature as rational human beings. Imperfect duties require us to act according to certain principles but don’t require us to do so always or without exception; for example, if you see someone being mugged, it would be an imperfect duty for you to intervene even though it might put yourself in danger.
