O’NEILL ON KANT AND POVERTY PHIL 102, UBC Christina Hendricks O’Neill, “Kantian Approaches to Some Famine Problems” 

Second form of Kant’s C.I. The form of “humanity as an end in itself” 2 

“ “Act in such a way as to treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of anyone else, always as an end and never merely as a means” (Kant, Early Modern Texts version of Groundwork, p. 9) 3 

4 Treating people as means to our own ends Buying and selling Teaching & learning 

“We use others as mere means if what we do reflects some maxim to which they could not in principle consent” (O’Neill 260). 5 Treating others merely as means to our ends Lying promise Coercion, violence Deception 

Not only avoid treating others as mere means, but also ▷ “sustain and extend one another’s capacities for autonomous action” (O’Neill 262) ▷ So we should sometimes “support one another’s ends and activities to some extent” (262) (can’t do it all the time!) 6 Treating people as ends in themselves 

Justice & Beneficence Not treating others as mere means to ends “perfect duties” Treating others as ends in themselves “imperfect duties” 7 

8 Why is this a form of the CI? Humanity has intrinsic, unconditional value “Act in such a way as to treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of anyone else, always as an end and never merely as a means” (Kant 9) 

“Things that are preferred have only conditional value, for if the preferences … didn’t exist, their object would be worthless” (Kant 8). Rational beings “are not merely subjective ends whose existence … has value for us, but [their] existence is an end in itself” [and so has unconditional value] (9). 9 Kant on unconditional value of rational beings Why? 

Returning to Kant’s four examples Using the second form of C.I. this time 10 

Suicide (9) Maxim: to avoid pain using the absolute worth of oneself as a rational being as a means to something of conditional worth (avoiding pain) o Perfect duty/Justice 11 

Lying promise Kant (9): If A makes lying promise to B, “B can’t possibly assent to A’s acting against him in this way, so he can’t contain in himself the end of this action” o Perfect duty/Justice 12 

Developing Talents Kant (10): neglecting our talents “might perhaps be consistent with the preservation of humanity as an end in itself but not with the furtherance of that end” o Imperfect duty/Beneficence 13 

Helping others Kant (10): “For a positive harmony with humanity as an end in itself, what is required is that everyone positively tries to further the ends of others as far as he can” o Imperfect duty/Beneficence 14 

▷ Pick one action that you think is immoral ▷ Use either CI (1) or CI (2) and see what it would say about that action/maxim ○ CI (1): form of universal law; universalize your maxim ○ CI (2): treating people as mere means to ends? Treating them as ends in themselves? ▷ Can you think of an example where the Categorical Imperative (in either form) would give you an answer you think is incorrect? 15 Try using C.I. (1) or (2) 

http://is.gd/phil102kant 16 Questions/comments 

Kant and poverty O’Neill on a Kantian approach to helping those in poverty around the world 17 

18 Justice & Beneficence re: helping those in poverty Not treating others as mere means to ends • Examples? Treating others as ends in themselves • “sustain and extend others’ capacities for autonomous action” (O’Neill 262) • Examples? 

What is paternalism? Utilitarians and Kantians on paternalism re: helping others 19 Against paternalism 

▷ 2nd form of C.I. —humanity as an end in itself ○ Justice/perfect duties: avoid treating others as mere means to ends ○ Beneficence/imperfect duties: sometimes support ends of others, promote their capacity for autonomous action ▷ Unconditional value of humanity ▷ Kantian approach to poverty: beneficence in helping others—focus on autonomy 20 Summary 

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