ETHICAL FORMALISM, Allwin Mathew T.

Ethical Formalism is an ethical theory which defines moral judgments in terms of their logical form rather than their content. The term often also carries critical connotations. Kant, for example, has been criticized for defining morality in terms of the formal feature of being a 'universal law' and then attempting to derive from this formal feature various concrete moral duties.

From and content are common terms in philosophy. The form is the "shape" of the thing, a container without content. Concepts of "good" and "right" are forms. The content is the specific manifestation of that form. Something "good" might refer to helping someone in need. This is the content. Therefore, ethical formalism rejects the concern with actual moral acts and concentrates instead on the fundamental sources of moral goodness regardless of their application. 

Any ethical theory has a form, or rule of action, and content, the specific nature of that action. Ethical formalism dispenses with content altogether. Formalism is ethical universalism made into laws that are absolute. Therefore, the content of any specific moral action has no meaning. If a universal law says "do not cheat," then under no circumstances is permissible for cheating.

Kant is one of the most important promoters of ethical formalism. In his view, no ethical theory can worry about the actual content of specific moral acts. It must make rules based on the constitution of the human will itself. This suggests that the human will can apply rules to every situations that confront it. It begins from the point of view of human equality and resolves itself to the idea that only universal laws decided upon in freedom can contain anything moral.

Ethical formalism holds that the source and ground of ethical laws contains their value. Therefore, consequences do not matter. Kant's famous formalist principles are one that comes from the freewill. The will is free when no outside influences, such as self interest, interfere with it. The will in this case is totally free, and therefore totally universal ethical action deriving from the will is truly good because it is both free and universal. Universality becomes the ground of morality because it does not take into consideration of any specific interest. It is moral for the sake of being moral.