Kant: the Universal Law Formation of the Categorical Imperative
 
 	Kantian philosophy outlines the Universal Law Formation of the
 Categorical Imperative as a method for determining morality of actions.
 This formula is a two part test. First, one creates a maxim and
 considers whether the maxim could be a universal law for all rational
 beings. Second, one determines whether rational beings would will it to
 be a universal law. Once it is clear that the maxim passes both prongs
 of the test, there are no exceptions. As a paramedic faced with a
 distraught widow who asks whether her late husband suffered in his
 accidental death, you must decide which maxim to create and based on the
 test which action to perform.  The maxim "when answering a widow's
 inquiry as to the nature and duration of her late husbands death, one
 should always tell the truth regarding the nature of her late husband's
 death" (M1) passes both parts of the Universal Law Formation of the
 Categorical Imperative. Consequently, according to Kant, M1 is a moral
 action.
 	The initial stage of the Universal Law Formation of the Categorical
 Imperative requires that a maxim be universally applicable to all
 rational beings. M1 succeeds in passing the first stage. We can easily
 imagine a world in which paramedics always answer widows truthfully when
 queried. Therefore, this maxim is logical and everyone can abide by it
 without causing a logical impossibility. The next logical step is to
 apply the second stage of the test.
 	The second requirement is that a rational being would will this maxim
 to become a universal law. In testing this part, you must decide whether
 in every case, a rational being would believe that the morally correct
 action is to tell the truth. First, it is clear that the widow expects
 to know the truth. A lie would only serve to spare her feelings if she
 believed it to be the truth. Therefore, even people who would consider
 lying to her, must concede that the correct and expected action is to
 tell the truth. By asking she has already decided, good or bad, that she
 must know the truth.  
 	What if telling the truth brings the widow to the point where she
 commits suicide, however? Is telling her the truth then a moral action
 although its consequence is this terrible response?  If telling the
 widow the truth drives her to commit suicide, it seems like no rational
 being would will the maxim to become a universal law. The suicide is,
 however, a consequence of your initial action. The suicide has no
 bearing, at least for the Categorical Imperative, on whether telling the
 truth is moral or not. Likewise it is impossible to judge whether upon
 hearing the news, the widow would commit suicide. Granted it is a
 possibility, but there are a multitude of alternative choices that she
 could make and it is impossible to predict each one. To decide whether
 rational being would will a maxim to become a law, the maxim itself must
 be examined rationally and not its consequences. Accordingly, the maxim
 passes the second test.
 	 Conversely, some people might argue that in telling the widow a lie,
 you spare her years of torment and suffering. These supporters of "white
 lies" feel the maxim should read, "When facing a distraught widow, you
 should lie in regards to the death of her late husband in order to spare
 her feelings." Applying the first part of the Universal Law Formation of
 the Categorical Imperative, it appears that this maxim is a moral act.
 Certainly, a universal law that prevents the feelings of people who are
 already in pain from being hurt further seems like an excellent
 universal law. Unfortunately for this line of objection, the only reason
 a lie works is because the person being lied to believes it to be the
 truth. In a situation where every widow is lied to in order to spare her
 feelings, then they never get the truth. This leads to a logical
 contradiction because no one will believe a lie if they know it a lie
 and the maxim fails.
 	Perhaps the die-hard liar can regroup and test a narrower maxim. If it
 is narrow enough so that it encompasses only a few people, then it
 passes the first test. For example, the maxim could read, "When facing a
 distraught widow whose late husband has driven off a bridge at night,
 and he struggled to get out of the car but ended up drowning, and he was
 wearing a brown suit and brown loafers, then you should tell the widow
 that he died instantly in order to spare her feelings." We can easily
 imagine a world in which all paramedics lied to widows in this specific
 situation.
 	That does not necessarily mean that it will pass the second test
 however. Even if it does pass the first test, narrowing down maxim can
 create other problems. For instance circumstances may change and the
 people who were originally included in the universal law, may not be
 included anymore. Consequently you many not want to will your maxim to
 be a universal law. Likewise, if one person can make these maxims that
 include only a select group of people, so can everyone else. If you
 create a maxim about lying to widows that is specific enough to pass the
 first test, so can everyone else. One must ask if rational beings would
 really will such a world in which there would be many, many specific,
 but universal, laws. In order to answer this question, one must use the
 rational "I" for the statement "I, as a rational being would will such a
 world," not the specific, embodied "I" which represents you in your
 present condition. You must consider that you could be the widow in the
 situation rather than the paramedic, then decide whether you would will
 such a universal law.
 	   I agree with the morality based on Kantian principles because it is
 strict in its application of moral conduct. Consequently there is no
 vacillating in individual cases to determine whether an action is moral
 or not. An action is moral in itself not because of its consequences but
 because any rational being wills it to be a universal law and it does
 not contradict itself. Regardless of what the widow does with the
 information, the act of telling her the truth, is a moral one. No one
 would argue that telling the truth, if she asks for it, is an immoral
 thing to do. Sometimes moral actions are difficult, and perhaps in this
 situation it would be easier to lie to the widow, but it would still be
 an immoral action that I would not want everyone to do. This picture of
 morality resonates with my common sense view of morality. If the widow
 subsequently commits suicide or commits any other immoral act as a
 consequence, that has no bearing on the morality of the original action
 in itself.
 	Utilitarianism would differ on this point. Utilitarianism outlines that
 an action is moral if it increases the total happiness of society.
 Morality is based on consequences. Telling a lie to the widow would
 increase her happiness and consequently would, at least possibly, be a
 moral action. Utilitarianism would also take into account the precedent
 set by lying; however, the analysis still rests on predicted consequence
 rather than on the action's intrinsic moral value. The morality of
 telling the lie is on a case by case basis. In some situations, it might
 be better to tell the truth, and according to utilitarianism that would
 then be the moral action. Unlike Kantian philosophy, one is not bound by
 an immutable universal law. Instead one must judge in each case which
 action will produce the most overall happiness. The problem with this
 approach is that morality loses any value as a universal or intrinsic
 quality. Every decision is made on an individual basis in an individual
 and specific situation. In fact, utilitarianism considers happiness to
 be the only intrinsically valuable end.
 	Defenders of utilitarianism claim that it maintains universality by
 considering the greatest happiness of all beings, rather than just
 individual happiness. Still, the morality is based on constantly
 changing and often unpredictable consequences. The requirement that one
 consider all of the consequences of an action and determine the best
 possible action through such calculations makes me reject utilitarianism
 as a method of determining morality. 
 	Although utilitarianism often offers the easier solution to perform
 because it produces immediate gratification and allows many exceptions
 to common sense moral codes, the answers it gives are unfilling and
 unrealistic. Furthermore, it is difficult, if not impossible, to make
 all of the required calculations beforehand. Kant's solution, although
 as interpreted by Kant is sometimes overly extreme, is much better than
 utilitarianism. It resonates with my moral sensibilities to consider
 that actions are moral or immoral regardless of their immediate
 consequences. I am willing to accept that sometimes the moral action is
 harder to perform, but I am unwilling to accept that morality rests
 within the specifics of a situation and the possible consequences.
 Therefore, I consider Kant's Universal Law Formation of the Categorical
 Imperative to be a better test of morality than Mill's Utilitarianism.
 