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DA5. Kantian Ethics, Huckleberry Finn, and Categorical Imperative

Statement

  • Your FIRST of TWO topics this week:
    • Huckleberry Finn.
      • Either from Chapter 8 or 12 or anywhere in the book if you’ve read more, please post a short observation about how you directly can relate to the ethical or moral dilemma the characters were going through.
      • Identify which of the terms from the Kantian Ethics reading you are referencing, please.
    • You must comment on your peers’ thoughts as well.
  • Your SECOND topic posts in the Discussion Forum this week:
    • Provide a modern example of a Categorical Imperative in your life or culture.
    • You must comment on your peers’ thoughts as well.

Answer

Huckleberry Finn is a novel by Mark Twain that is set in the pre-Civil War era. The novel is about a boy named Huck who meets a runaway slave named Jim. Huck is faced with a moral dilemma he should turn Jim in as God commands to obeying the local law, or he should help Jim escape to freedom as the other God commands to help others and oppose slavery (Khan Academy, 2023).

According to Archive.org (2021), The first side of the dilemma that Jim should turn Jim in is a hypothetical imperative; this is based on the condition that Huck wants to avoid breaking the law and also God commands us to obey the law as long it does wrongly harm others. The second side of the dilemma that Huck should help Jim escape is a categorical imperative; this is based on God’s absolute command to always help others and God’s position against slavery.

Categorical Imperative involves unconditional commands or moral obligations that should be obeyed regardless of the context or situation (Archive.org, 2021). One example of a categorical imperative in my life is the choice between eating meat or turning vegetarian; God’s imperative: “You should preserve life, and harm others”; the command does not oppose eating meat, however, with the current situation of the climate change, eating meat may harm the planet, thus hurting others; therefore, I should turn vegetarian.

The dilemma is that preserving own life may involve eating meat, but eating meat may harm the planet which violates preserving life command. I think turning vegetarian is a moral choice as it does not harm others and preserves life.

References

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