Kant's Deontology

The right act is the act in accord with the correct moral rule or principle(what's important isn't the act, but what it represents).

~deon=rule(word root)
There are three rules according to Kant:
1) Prohibition-things you shouldn't do.
2) Requirements(Obligations)- things you should/must do.
-Both these are governed by the categorical imperative.
3)Permissions-Things you can do or not do, they have no moral quality at all.
-Governed by the hypothetical imperative.

~Compare to Utilitarianism:
All decisions are moral, your obligation is to maximize happiness. The only prohibition is what doesn't maximize happiness. So, there are no prohibitions=every act is moral.

~Intrinsically Good:
-Utilitarianism=only pleasure.
-Deontology=only goodwill. Happiness, intelligence, freedom, etc can all allow for evil or immoral acts.

Kant: Motive is everything, Utilitarianism claims motive means nothing, only the consequences matter. Kant assumes that the right motive will produce the right act. The right act is discernable to rational people most of the time. (this is a problem because lots of moral acts are controversial)

[discussed the Deontology hand out]