Kant Vs Mill

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Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill are philosophers who addressed the issues of morality. Kant’s theory of Kantianism and Mill’s theory of Utilitarianism both center morality on a single first principal, although alike in numerous ways such as rationally evaluating morality; they have different methods of justifying their first principal. Also, Kant and Mill start off with differing basis for morality. According to the Oxford dictionary, morality is the principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior. Immanuel Kant is a German philosopher who believed that a person’s actions determine their moral worth. A good person is someone who always does their duty because it is their duty. A duty is doing the right…show more content…
An example of a categorical imperative would be don’t cheat on your test, although it may benefit your grade it is morally wrong. Kantianism uses the formula of universal law to better explain how the categorical imperative works. The formula of universal law states, “Act only on that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law (of nature).” A maxim is basic human law; it is the rule or principal on which a person acts. A maxim is the thought that you can behind your action. To prove how a maxim relates to morality, use a millionaire as an example. This millionaire has a bad reputation lately and is looking to make a better name for him; he attends a public charity event where he knows there will be newspaper reporters and donates two million dollars. Since the millionaires maxim was not to donate for the sake of donating, he donated to give himself a better reputation this shows that the moral worth of his action is wrong. To better understand the formula of universal law, use lying as a model. If your maxim is to lie, the person has to believe you and a person does not usually assume that they are being lied to. If lying was a universal law, people may not communicate with each other or they can assume the opposite of the lie. Kant’s formula of universal law forces people to think, “If…show more content…
Utilitarianism is a moral test for the correctness of actions, centered on the amount of pleasure or pain they create. Jeremy Bentham believed that all action would be measured by pain and pleasure; Mill criticized Bentham’s inability for not distinguishing between the quality and quantity of pleasures. Utilitarianism is a Consequentialist theory of ethics. Consequentialists look to maximize satisfaction and minimize dissatisfaction, and all actions are viewed by their consequences. In order to prove that happiness is the only principal for morality, it is required to show that people never desire anything but happiness. Mill admits that people desire things such as virtue, but only because they believe it brings

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