Submit a three-to-five page paper applying a deontological lens to the issue you’re working on for your term paper.
Remember that a deontological framework is concerned with the application of purely moral concepts and principles (autonomy, respect, justice, rights, consent, dignity, exploitation, coercion, obligation, the maxims justifying our actions, etc.). If your paper starts to argue about the potential benefits or downsides of a particular approach with regard to the issue you’re exploring, you’re not longer providing a deontological approach. Deontology is a decidedly non-consequentialist way to understand the nature of morality.
The most obvious things to keep in mind when trying to explore your issue from a deontological perspective is to see how Kant’s Categorical Imperative may apply.
Remember that he gave us a few articulations of this idea:
Act only on that maxim whereby you can simultaneously will that it should become a universal law.
Treat humanity, whether in your own person or that of another, always as an end in itself, and never merely as a means.
Every rational being must so act as if he were by his maxims in every case a legislating member in the kingdom of universal ends.
And although Kant himself thought that these were all ultimately just different ways of saying the same thing, it will probably be more useful for you to think of them as complementary (they should work together, each adding an important component that was missing from each previous iteration), and as potential test cases for each other (the second formulation, for instance, may imply some kind of limiting case on the first formulation, etc.).
Another way to think about how deontology differs from consequentialist approaches (such as Utilitarianism) is not merely not to think in terms of costs and benefits, but to think in terms of the language of rights and duties. If you think about it, these two concepts are inextricably entwined: my rights impose certain obligations on you, and vice versa. For instance, if I have a right to life, then you have a duty not to kill me. My right to property implies your obligation not to take my stuff without my consent. My right to bodily autonomy implies your obligation not to assault me. Etc.
So, instead of simply claiming that certain rights exist (in some abstract sense that may not be immediately obvious to a doubtful skeptic), it will probably be useful for you to always attempt to ground the idea of such rights by also thinking about the corresponding obligations that they would impose:
If you can establish the reality of such rights/obligations dualities, then you’re probably in relatively solid territory.
If you can’t establish the corresponding obligation to a right that you claim, that doesn’t necessarily mean such a right doesn’t exist (though that’s always a possibility as well). But it may mean that you need to dig deeper, and in a more comprehensive manner simultaneously, so that your audience may get to understand why something that may not look like a right (at least in a superficial reading), is actually best thought of as one when we examine it closer and in light of a wider set of considerations.
For instance, perhaps you want to argue that we have a right to education (say, because you’re arguing for free college for all, for instance).
A skeptic could clearly argue that your right to an education seems to impose on me a duty to pay for it: but I have no duty to pay for you, and therefore the ‘right’ that you claim doesn’t exist. Perhaps the skeptic may be correct.
On the other hand, you may argue that if we take seriously the idea that we do have a right to liberty (as the skeptic most likely believes), and that understanding freedom merely negatively, in terms of non-interference (as the skeptic probably does), is to minimize its real moral significance, since a person with less education doesn’t really have the liberty to pursue their own conception of the good life precisely because that person has been denied meaningful access to the conditions that would make it possible for such a person to make that kind of choice. And if that’s the case, then such a person lacks the liberty to determine her own destiny.
Now, this may not be the end of this argument, but I hope you’re starting to see how combining Kant and Rawls’ abstract understanding of freedom and autonomy (and maybe even throwing in a little bit of Marx’s wider conception of freedom by focusing on the material conditions, as well) may help provide something of a base for your arguments to take off.[supanova_question]
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Philosophy Assignment Help Learning Goal: I’m working on a literature project and need an explanation and answer to help me learn.
FYI: I already have an account created and half is already done. You just needs to login and make it look attractive by adding some more requirements: I’ll give you a login info once you are ready to take it.
portfolios are a source of showing ability above and beyond a list of experiences creating a much richer portrayal. We will continue the process of creating an electronic portfolio in this assessment by adding three projects to our Foliotek Identity Page. Consider your future goals and make sure that the projects (artifacts) selected highlight those skills that are especially applicable. Alternatively, you could start with the skills you want to showcase and then consider whether you have any artifacts that illustrate your abilities in those skills.
For example, consider your Applied Arts and Sciences concentrations; can you think of any artifacts that represent your abilities in those concentrations? What experiences do you have that set you apart from others? Consider whether you have any related artifacts that distinguish you.
Select at least 3 artifacts of your work to upload. Artifacts of work might be reports you did for work, PowerPoint presentations you prepared, papers you wrote for a class, Virtual Internship Certificates, etc. In my opinion, those projects that directly reflect the work in your field are the best choice. In other words, if you have samples from your “real world” work, please use those. You can view a list of example Artifacts here.
Be sure that you only upload items for which you are the creator/owner of the work. If it was done in collaboration with others, get their written permission before uploading something.
For the artifact you upload, provide a summary of its context (refer to the grading rubric).When and why was it done? With whom?
What core skills do you think this artifact illustrates? How does it demonstrate that you have those skills?
To Create Three Projects, follow these steps:
Once logged into Foliotek.com (Links to an external site.), click the icon that resembles a suitcase for the “Projects” and then click “ Create Project.”
Select “Personal Project” and click “Go” to begin editing your project. Make sure to click the checkmark in the corner to save your work! Click here for more instructions on Creating Projects (Links to an external site.).
After you’ve completed creating your projects, add them to your ID page by clicking the human icon in the top menu, hover over “Projects” and click the pencil icon to add the projects. Click here to see how to add to Projects to the Identity Page (Links to an external site.).
Submit the link to the Identity Page (same link as you turned in for the Identity Page earlier this semester).
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