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Kant famously aspired to apply his ends formulation of the categorical imperative not only to others but to oneself, so that according to Kant we are morally not allowed to treat ourselves as mere means just like we are morally not allowed to treat others as mere means. But what does it even mean that we are morally not allowed to treat ourselves as mere means? We will try to answer this crucial question in the history of normative ethics by looking at some of the most famous cases of Kant’s application of the categorical imperative to oneself: for example prostitution, organs, and surrogacy. Think of the always recurring debate on prostitution: many people seem to think that, somehow, prostitutes violate a duty to themselves by selling their sexual services. Similarly, is there anything wrong with selling a kidney to feed your children or, for that matter, to buy yourself a new fancy car? There seems to be a strong traditional intuition against violations of body and self.
This course will try to make theoretical sense of the supposed inviolability of body and self by looking at Cecile Fabre’s book on the topic, Whose Body Is It Anyway? Students are requested to get hold of the book in time for the first class. |
