Purchase Professor Applies Kant's Philosophy to Abortion, Same-Sex Marriage Debates

Akin to the timeless notions of love, war, peace and faith, one Purchase College professor says Immanuel Kant's view of morality can be applied to important and often divisive issues in contemporary American culture.

Purchase College Assistant Professor of Philosophy Jennifer K. Uleman said the 18th-century German philosopher placed great emphasis on the idea that people are "creative agents."

"Unlike squirrels, we can change the world, change ourselves and do things that we haven't done before," explained Uleman. "Kant thinks that is spectacular and awesome. His moral philosophy wants to promote that."

Kant, renown for his 1781 work Critique of Pure Reason, has been criticized for being rigid and overly rational in his moral thinking, but Uleman believes those aspects of his work are overplayed.

"My interpretation focuses on his attempts to view moral thinking as something that's not religious," she said. "People often believe we should be moral because we will make god angry, but Kant thinks we should be moral because it's the right thing to do."

Uleman, who focuses on the history of modern European philosophy in her teaching at Purchase, has penned an overview of Kant's ideas in An Introduction to Kant's Moral Philosophy, which was published by Cambridge University Press last year.

"He turned away from the moral system that was grounded in religion and tradition and called for a separate morality from religion, which he viewed as a defective morality."

Uleman says that Kant believed free rational activity would take different forms in different places over time. But for society to allow an individual full creative freedom didn't mean to him that one acts entirely independently of other people.

For instance, Uleman said that Kant was staunchly opposed to suicide. He believed suicide, an act long unfathomable to most cultures, reflected a defect in a community's values.

"He believed in a sense of community and a shared set of values," she said. For a person to commit suicide, Kant believed the freedom for creative agency and communal moral support may have been lacking.

Regarding abortion and gay marriage, two major cultural dialogues in America right now, Uleman said that Kant would have ruled on the side of personal freedom in both cases.

"If we extrapolate some of the things he says in looking at reproductive rights now, Kant would support birth control and abortion," Uleman said. She noted that infanticide, partially attributed to a lack of birth control options in 18th century Europe, was an issue of concern for Kant.

Uleman said Kant would have defended same-sex marriage on the grounds of society's allowing unstifled creative liberty, which is supported by personal relationships.

"Allowing gay marriage is required if we're going to respect people's needs for relationships," she said. "Kant believed in whatever kind of life it is, as long as it promotes the right to live a morally sound, creative life."