Socrates Jones: Pro Philosopher - Chapter 5: Kant
Part 6 of 7, of a playthrough of "Socrates Jones: Pro Philosopher". Socrates Jones speaks with Kant, a philosopher who argues for intentionalism. That is, he believes the morality of an act depends upon the intention behind it. As long as a person intends to do good, their actions are good.
Kant continues his argument, by explaining the categorical imperatives. These are moral rules that should always be followed. Some are negative, such as "do not lie". Some are positive, such as "help someone who is sick".
Socrates argues that there are some circumstances in which lying is morally acceptable. Kant counters, by explaining about the universality test. If there is a world in which everyone follows a particular law, it is moral, provided that the law does not lead to a contradiction or irrationality.
Socrates claims that "help someone who is sick" creates an irrationality, if applied universally. That is, a lot of harm would result, if this law was followed by people who are not trained medical professionals. Kant concedes this point.
Socrates argues that Kant's argument is inconsistent. Kant claims that consequences are irrelevant to morality, but by claiming you must check a rule for irrationalities, he claims consequences ARE relevant to morality. Ironically, the universality test fails the universality test!