Applied Ethics

Shopkeeper's Dilemma

Watch the video and answer to the question (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QATGv6ihVcM&t=7s).

Does the Shopkeeper's action have moral worth? Justify your answer.

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Someone else's post:

The shopkeeper's decision to give the child the correct change does not have moral worth according to Kant. In Kantian terms what gives an act its moral worth is not the end it achieves but the motive or intention behind it. Actions must be done for the sake of duty to the moral law. If you follow a motive of inclination or are motivated by base desires then it doesn't matter what the end result is. Good intentions are not good because of what they accomplish, they are simply good.

The shopkeeper was motivated by what would happen if he was caught: the loss of his reputation and perhaps the business would suffer as a result. For the action to be morally worthy his decision should have been based on doing the right thing: being honest and giving the correct change.