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Comparing Kantian Ethics And Utilitarianism

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Ethical theories are philosophical concepts put in place to help justify and evaluate the morality of human actions. These ethics are seen as fundamental principles for decent human conduct when deciding what is right and wrong. Two of the most well known ethical theories are Kantian Ethics and Utilitarianism. Kantian ethics defines morality based on an individual’s rationality and self-control (Warburton pg: 38). Where as Utilitarianism defines morality based upon the ability to express pleasure and avoid pain (Warburton pg:47)

Kantian ethics is categorized as a duty-based theory (Warburton pg: 39). Emmanuel Kant, the founder of this ethical theory descried moral judgment as one based upon a sense of duty. What Kant meant by this was that …show more content…

For instance when considering what is the best possible action, Kantian ethics specifically states that one should act on a sense of duty. For example a murderer is looking for a family member and you know their where about. If the murderer were to ask you for their location would you listen to the categorical imperative, which states that one should not tell a lie and give the murderer the information, or act from your sense of duty to protect your family member (Warburton pg: 44). What would be the right thing to do in this situation?
When facing ethical dilemmas regardless of how serious they may be, Kantian ethics sets nonnegotiable guidelines, which can be an advantage as they are very direct. However, the lack of consideration for difficult situations has to be the biggest disadvantage for adopting Kantian ethics (Warburton pg: 45).

In comparison to Kantian ethics, Utilitarianism gives greater perspective to difficult situations and factors in consequences (Warburton pg: 47). While Kantian ethics deals with the question of what is right and wrong from the standpoint of duty, Utilitarianism view the question from the standpoint of what generates the greatest overall amount of happiness (Warburton pg:

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Kantians believe that the rightness or wrongness of an action does not depend on the consequences, but on whether they fulfill a duty. They must act in a way that will produce the greatest overall amount of good in the world. In this view there is no obligation to give money to a homeless person, but it is the right thing to do. Kant’s supreme moral principle is the categorical imperative. The categorical imperative is a moral law that is unconditional for all agents because of intrinsic value.

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Developing from the reasoning of (Russ Shafer-Landau, p.p 13), it is clear that there is a difference between normative ethics and metaethics. Normative ethics are those values that develop from within a personality and are always employed whenever ethics are breached. On the other hand the metaethics is basically the diverse elements that are considered crucial for building positive ethical believes. (Shafer-Landau, p.p 29), also brings forward other moral ethical elements such as the moral error theory, the desire-satisfaction theory, ethical particularism and the doctrine of double effects. All the above elements are crucial for shaping ones ethical perspectives and inclinations leave alone resolving ethical issues within a society.

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Kant also thought it was possible for pure reason to discover objective ethical truths. Kant believed that ethical truths must be categorical, universal, and be the product of reason. Kant’s categorical imperative states that a person should always act in such a way that they could will that act should be a universal law. This means that Kant thought that it was best to do the right thing, even if the person didn’t want to. This view of ethics focuses on what is right to do.

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The Kantian Ethics is a duty-based theory, meaning we will choose who we should choose because it is what we should do and is morally right action in accordance with the categorical imperative. The categorical imperative is extremely important when it comes to deciding what choice is morally correct and deciding what our duty is to do. The Kantian Ethics expresses that we should treat every single person with dignity and worth and as if it they were ourselves. Our choice of which ten we should choose under Kantian ethics influence would be very difficult because if we put ourselves in their positions and try to see every single person with dignity and the same worth it would be impossible to make a decision of whom to save. It is clear that duty plays an important and central part in Kantian ethics because without it our choice may otherwise not be justified.

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The final ethical theory is Kant’s deontology. Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher who admire the stoics for their dedication to performing their duties and playing their part. He based his theory on duties, obligations, and rights. Its main focus is that everyone has an inherited right. It highlights the importance of respecting a person autonomy.

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Kant moral philosophy defines the need for moral law, categorical imperatives a means to the end. The categorical imperative are based on an action not done with motive of duty, then it has no moral value. Mrs. Berranger asked that you conduct research on 1 of the following philosophers who studied personal ethics and moral

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The divine command theory, utilitarianism, Kant’s duty defined morality, natural law theory, and Aristotle’s virtue ethics are the five types of ethical theories. The divine command theory states that what is morally right and wrong will be decided by God. Utilitarianism states that “Action “A” is morally right if and only if it produces the greatest amount of overall happiness. Kant’s duty defined morality states that what is important is acting for the sake of producing good consequences, no matter what the act is. Natural law theory states that people should focus on the good and avoid any evil.

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For Kant, his ethics are grounded on reason and pure reason alone. It is a matter of a priori vs a posteriori. A priori is knowing the truth of the judgement, regardless of empirical view. An example of a priori would be that a single

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Throughout history many great philosophers have attempted to unravel the origins of virtues by developing moral theories of their own. This document is designed to provide the reader with an overview of some of the more popular theories concerning morals. Three of the most popular moral theories are… Utilitarianism, Kantianism, and Aristotelianism. Though Utilitarianism, Kantianism, and Aristotelianism differ in many ways, they also share similar fundamentals. Utilitarianism is a highly acclaimed theory that is morally based on consequentialism.

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Moral theories are theories that help us distinguish between a right or a wrong action. Adequate moral theories help us understand that what we should or shouldn’t do in certain situations. Two of the most famous moral theories are Utilitarianism and Kantianism. According to Utilitarianism, an action is right if only if it out of all the other action gives out the maximum utility. In oppose to that, Kantianism says that an action is right if and only if, in performing that action, the person does not treat anyone as a mean and treats everyone as an end in itself.

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Hyejin Jang Professor Writing DED 8 April 2016. 4. 7. Kant’s ethics differs from utilitarian ethics both in its scope and in the precision with which it guides action. In The Categorical Imperative, Kant emphasizes that human autonomy is the essence of morality.

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As it has been shown, the utilitarian view has its strengths and is certainly logical in some cases, however, Kantian ethics offer a more stable set of moral

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As I was rummaging through the list of philosophers, Googling back and forth between each name, I decided that I resonated the most with Immanuel Kant’s ideas of ethics. One thought that I liked that Kant had was that he believes that one should make decisions or do something based on whether or not they think it is the right thing to do and if they believe it is in fact their “duty” to do so. This idea makes him a Deontologist. I decided to focus on this particular thought because it contrasts with Aristotle’s ideas, as Aristotle is a philosopher that we have studied. Along with this, I do agree with Kant’s idea that a person should do something such as tell the truth or aid someone in need if it is the right thing to do.

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