Question

You have borrowed $20 from a friend. He has forgotten about it, and you are certain he will never remember. In addition, your friend is well-off and will never miss it. To you, $20 means a lot. Describe what considerations the Kantian person would need to have in deciding whether to repay the debt.

Answer 1

Kant believed in the moral ieology that an action is wrong or right based on whether they are universal norms and part of our duty or not.They should not be judged by the consequences that will follow.

Some considerations according to Kantian's philosophy would be-

1.What is the universally followed norm - return borrowed money or keep it if you like?

2.Why should the money be returned? - The person should consider that if he pays the debt, is it because it is not his money and should be returned or is it because he wants to return it so as to not feel guilty about keeping the money. According to Kant's ethics the former would be the right reason to return the money, while the latter would be selfish.

3. Consequence of action are important or not? - According to Kant an action does not become right if it has no wrong or harmful consequence.In this case not returning borrowed money although has no harmful consequences, since your friend will not miss the money and it is a big amount for you, yet that does not justify the rightnes of the action.

4.When is Happiness right? - Saving $20 would make you happy, but the question should be is this happiness coming from doing something immoral.If not repaying and keeping the money is contrary to one's duty as a friend and human being then the happiness is not ethically right. The act of borrowing implies a duty to return the borrowed thing.