In
the case study, the parents to the ailing daughter were motivated by her
dreadful fate. Chances were that she had a few days to live should she lack
immediate remedy to her fatal blood disease. As such, the parents had a hard
time of weighing the available options to save their daughter's fragile life.
This keen evaluation of their motivations to act as called for and necessary as
any parent in their position are required. It should be noted that they had an
undying love for their daughter and thus, any choice they make was for the
betterment of the condition of their daughter. According to Kant ’s
categorical imperative, the choice of the parents to give birth to an infant as
a hope to their daughter’s recovery is justifiable. This paper, therefore,
seeks to bring a closure to the case study in line with Kant ’s
Practical and Categorical Imperatives.
According
to Paton (1971), Kant
believed that all humans have a special place in God’s creation. He also had
strong views that any decision made regarding humans should be imperative and
point towards morality. Every decision maker has a duty to safeguard the rights
of others while maximizing the benefits of their decisions to aid others in a
positive way. In the case of the ailing daughter’s parents, their ability to
make transformative decisions were majorly driven by the hypothetical
imperatives, in that they were willing to look for an end to their daughter’s
suffering. It would not have been any easier for them to make an alternate
choice because they had limited options.
During
Kant ’s lifetime, the popular moral philosophy was
anchored in utilitarian arguments. Hypothetical imperatives were enshrined in
the moral rules at the time. Such arguments were too weak such that a
conception of a fetus for the sake of remedy provision to a sister’s chronic
disease would have been unfounded. Kant
dissatisfaction on the porous philosophical stance of his time led him to
devise a new argument that has stood the test of time. He argued that moral
systems (as hypothetical as rule-out of the murder of an infant in mother's
belly for the sake of her survival) are non-persuasive to a moral action.
Furthermore, he made his stance clear by arguing that the hypothetical systems
of morality are baseless with regards to judgments on other humans (Foot,
1972). Heavy reliance on subjective considerations is the main reason for the
lack of firm philosophical base.
Being
good and Being Right
The
choice of the sick daughter’s parents to conceive an infant is morally relevant
because Kant considered being good as inferior in
comparison to ‘being right’. If the parents gave up on their daughter's chances
of survival, even with the gleaming hope of infant's bone marrow extraction,
they will be enriching themselves. In fact, they will be making an inferior
choice that is morally unjustifiable. But it is not upon the parents to make
the ‘right' or ‘good' choices by employing empirical philosophical means.
Instead, they are obliged to reason practically and purely (a priori).
Autonomy
and Freedom
For any decision to be moral, the decision
makers should exhibit a high level of freedom and clarity in conscience. It
does not imply that every choice made should be pure, but it should at least be
intended for the betterment of the subjects (Rachels et al 2010). None of the
decision makers should have an ulterior motive. In the case of the sick child’s
parents, they should act morally creating awareness to the infant regarding the
role he/she played in saving the life of her sister. By so doing lies and
deceit will be avoided. According to Kant , lies
tarnishes the initial intention of decision making. As a matter of fact, there
is no morality at all in lying to achieve an intended objective, even if it is
for positive reasons.
When
the parents made a choice to conceive another child, they had no idea of the
future turn of events. They could not predict if the new-born baby would die in
the process of bone marrow extraction. Neither, it was remarkably hard for them
to know whether the extracted bone marrow will be successful in healing the
ailing daughter or not. All these facts point to the moral neutrality. The
facts indicate that the parent's decision was not contradicted by the
predictability of events and the lack of respect for the rights of an infant.
It is arguable that the parent's good will was rational because they exercised
their moral duty without fear or concern of the consequences.
Imperfect
Duty
The
decision made by the parents to the sick child is a classic example of an
imperfect duty. According to Kant (1997), an
imperfect duty is as morally binding as perfect duty despite the fact that
imperfect duty heavily relies on humankind preferences. The parents would not
be blamed, anyway, if they opted to give up on finding a remedy to their
daughter's health. However, any audience to their successful bid will shower
praise on their courageous moves giving birth to a bone marrow donor). In fact,
their story will inspire an enactment of universal law with regards to the
provision of assistance to ailing kids through the reproduction of baby donors.
This is the ultimate goal of Kant ’s categorical
imperative.
Kant’s Second Formulation
It
is a perfect duty of every parent to avoid the exploitation of the perfect duty
of humanity to serve personal needs instead, the final decision should be a
means to an end. The parents to the sick 19-year-old daughter carefully
navigated around this rule. They ensured that their choice of giving birth to a
bone marrow donor will not only provide a closure to their daughter's woes but
also, the newborn infant will live a comfortable life. More so, when the infant
grows up, she will be grateful saved her sister's fragile life. The humanity in
her will ensure that she is satisfied with the decisions that her parents made
on her behalf at the time when she couldn't.
Reference
Foot, P. (1972). Morality as a System of
Hypothetical Imperatives. The
Philosophical Review, 305-316. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2184328?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
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