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Similarities Between Kant And John Stuart Mill

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Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill have held a very important position as far as morality and ethics are concerned. This paper analyzes the moral justification of firing my bazooka at combat at the veering danger of an enemy tanker amid six civilians being tucked on the ambient outside. The moral thing here would be firing at the enemy. The decision I arrive after analyzing it according to Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill.
Kant is remembered in ethics for his deontological ethical theory where he states that an action is morally justifiable if an actor is bound by his obedience to act by a set of laws. Kant’s ethics thus states that one “must” always conform to a set of rules hence at other times called “categorical imperative.” According …show more content…

If I do not fire the enemy, then the tanker is likely to get hold of me and harm me. Probably, they will shoot at me. If I fire, all the six civilians are likely to die and this is not any likely to stop the enemy tanker. Now what does Kant and Stuart Mill has to say about the moral thing at the moment? According to deontological ethics of Kant, the rule is that I am not supposed to kill innocent lives. So here, I should shoulder my weaponry and leave the enemy tanker. On the other hand, Mill would advise that I should fire as firing is what will save many lives and result in the maximum good for the people involved. This is an enemy and I am a combat soldier. I am trained to save lives. By firing, I will first save my life and save the lives of many other people who stand the danger of being harmed by the enemy. So, firing my bazooka results to a maximum good to my society as opposed to failing to fire as Kant advises. Kant’s deontological ethics raises a lot of questions; According to him, a rule is a rule and should always apply to all people at all the times. Categorical imperative proves itself very challenging. Now that killing is bad, is it bad to kill an enemy at war? Is it bad to kill an enemy and save the lives of even many people in the future? Categorical imperative claims to observe morality by observing laws at all the times always. However, at the situation at hand, it’s very intentions causes its flaw; Killing is bad but killing an enemy despite harming civilians is justifiable as long as at the end of the day, more people will be saved and be

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