Kantian Form of Ethics - Essay Example

To understand the place of Kant’s ethics, one will need to understand the relationship between means and ends in terms of global ethics. This will be discussed throughout the paper in terms of areas of philosophy and cases where global ethics come into play. The following elements come into play here: The ends of humanity are often tied with the highest attainable human rights that make it possible for each and every individual to lead a secular and free life, filled with his or her personal choices and opinions.

In the evolution of such a world from ancient times until the global village in which we thrive today, there have been countless upheavals and instances of conflict which have served as the means toward such an end. Kantian ethics can be applied to social movements in such a case. A social movement is one that is punctuated with a highly idealistic environment with realistic parameters that set the stage for immediate results and the emergence of future trends that will go on to dominate the structure and functioning of that particular society for generations to come.

This is what the categorical imperative points at. Issues like principles, revolutionary change, personal strength, and a search for the identity of a group of people or society, are synonymous with social movements. For the measurement of the success of any social movement, factors like skillful organization, optimum use of resources, and the identification of opportunities, are vital indicators. Literature has always been a strong medium to convey the ideas that are contained in social movements. As self-realization progresses, ethics will be looking at these factors closely through three pieces of work that have been written in the context of the civil rights movement.

In his book, The Origins of the Civil Movement – lack Communities Organising for Change, author Aldon D Morris demonstrates the advantages of organizing one’s plan of action as well as the course taken towards the achievement of goals with concerted efforts diverted towards coordinated action.