Maxim (philosophy) - Wikipedia Maxim (philosophy) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Phrase that can motivate individuals A maxim is a concise expression of a fundamental moral rule or principle, whether considered as objective or subjective contingent on one's philosophy. A maxim is often pedagogical and motivates specific actions. The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy defines it as: Generally any simple and memorable rule or guide for living; for example, 'neither a borrower nor a lender be'. Tennyson speaks of 'a little hoard of maxims preaching down a daughter's heart (Locksley Hall), and maxims have generally been associated with a 'folksy' or 'copy-book' approach to morality.[1] Contents 1 Deontological ethics 2 Personal knowledge 3 See also 4 References 5 External links Deontological ethics[edit] In deontological ethics, mainly in Kantian ethics, maxims are understood as subjective principles of action. A maxim is thought to be part of an agent's thought process for every rational action, indicating in its standard form: (1) the action, or type of action; (2) the conditions under which it is to be done; and (3) the end or purpose to be achieved by the action, or the motive. The maxim of an action is often referred to as the agent's intention. In Kantian ethics, the categorical imperative provides a test on maxims for determining whether the actions they refer to are right, wrong, or permissible. The categorical imperative is stated canonically as: "Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law."[2] In his Critique of Practical Reason, Immanuel Kant provided the following example of a maxim and of how to apply the test of the categorical imperative: I have, for example, made it my maxim to increase my wealth by any safe means. Now I have a deposit in my hands, the owner of which has died and left no record of it. . . . I therefore apply the maxim to the present case and ask whether it could indeed take the form of a law, and consequently whether I could through my maxim at the same time give such a law as this: that everyone may deny a deposit which no one can prove has been made. I at once become aware that such a principle, as a law, would annihilate itself since it would bring it about that there would be no deposits at all.[3] Also, an action is said to have "moral worth" if the maxim upon which the agent acts cites the purpose of conforming to a moral requirement. That is, a person's action has moral worth when he does his duty purely for the sake of duty, or does the right thing for the right reason. Kant himself believed that it is impossible to know whether anyone's action has ever had moral worth. It might appear to someone that he has acted entirely "from duty", but this could always be an illusion of self-interest: of wanting to see oneself in the best, most noble light. This indicates that agents are not always the best judges of their own maxims or motives. Personal knowledge[edit] Michael Polanyi in his account of tacit knowledge stressed the importance of the maxim in focusing both explicit and implicit modes of understanding. “Maxims are rules, the correct application of which is part of the art they govern....Maxims can only function within a framework of personal (i.e., experiential) knowledge”.[4] See also[edit] Philosophy portal Adage Aphorism Brocard Ethics Legal maxim Morality Paremiology Principle References[edit] ^ Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, Maxim (Oxford University Press 2008) p. 226 ^ Kant, Immanuel (1993). Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals 3rd ed. Translated by James W. Ellington. Hackett. pp. 30. ISBN 0-87220-166-X. ^ Kant, Immanuel (1997). Critique of Practical Reason. Translated by Mary Gregor. Cambridge University Press. pp. 25/5:27. ISBN 0-521-59051-5. ^ Quoted in Guy Claxton, Live and learn (1992) p. 116 External links[edit] Locksley Hall - Alfred Lord Tennyson Online works of Immanuel Kant at Gutenberg Maxims of Action Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maxim_(philosophy)&oldid=991231586" Categories: Concepts in ethics Kantianism Statements Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version Languages Čeština Deutsch Eesti Esperanto فارسی Français 한국어 Ido Nederlands Norsk bokmål Polski Română Русский Slovenčina Suomi Svenska Tiếng Việt Edit links This page was last edited on 29 November 2020, at 00:17 (UTC). 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