Deontological Ethics -- the Kantian Response

That was an interesting paper, Steve!  I've been writing about Night Watch on my Marathon Training blog (yep, I started one), and one of my themes has been, that the author Lukyanenko is a tricky author -- not so much a chess player as he is a Master Puppeteer (as are all novelists, at least, all good ones).  Sometimes, his moral musings, and ethical growth of the characters, borders on a Kantian dialogue. 

Kant is one of my favorite philosophers, but it has been quite a while since I've read The Critique of Pure Reason and some of his other essays on moral and ethical definitions.  So I went to Wikipedia for help in remembering the thumbnail definitions of the Categorical and Deontological Imperatives.  I'm glad I did --- found a short tidbit on "The Divine Command Theory" that ties in very nicely with the paper on Galileo (and also our mutual cultural upbringing, say no more).

For Immanuel Kant, an "imperative" is a dictate founded on reason -- not necessarily a moral absolute, but something like one of the 10 Commandments of the Mind.  It is an ethical necessity, one that by right and by reason, should be done, apparently and for its own self.

There is also the Deontological Imperative, or an action resulting from perceived "duty," "obligation," societal rules of conduct.  I think these are more socially accepted norms, but every branch of philosophy seems to establish their own norms in this area:  Ayn Rand established her Objectivist Absolutes (and now most atheists espouse similar deontological imperatives), even though her own Categorical Imperative was to oppose Kant on idealistic grounds, since his thought is grounded so rigorously in Plato's tradition; religious organizations live (and try to die) by theirs, falling under the category of "Divine Command" imperatives ("If the Bible says that's the way it's gonna be, then by darn that's good enough for me"). 

The coolest thing I read in the article was a summary of W.D. Ross's pluralism, an answer to the Deontological Imperative.  According to him, there are 7 right-making features of moral action:
1. Duty of Beneficence (duty to help others)
2. Duty of Non-Maleficence (avoid harming others)
3. Duty of Justice (make sure folk get their just deserts)
4. Duty of Self-Improvement (be all you can be)
5. Duty of Reparation (make restitution for all one's badness)
6. Duty of Gratitude (benefit those who have benefited you)
7. Duty of Promise-Keeping (make good on explicit and implicit promises, including the unstated promise to tell the truth at all times).

It's been so interesting to read Night Watch series, with these ethical guidelines in the back of my mind, especially when Lukyanenko disingenuously explores the uses and abuses of power through the mythical Night Watch and Day Watch.