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Kantian Ethics Vs Utilitarianism

428 Words2 Pages

The Utilitarianism and Kantian ethics are opposite of each other in many cases about morality. On the one hand, Utilitarianism claims that what makes people happiest and greatest number of people happy is morally right to do. On the other hand, Kantian ethics, first introduced by philosopher Kant, claims that we have some certain rules, like never lie even if it will benefit many people, and we should follow these rules no matter what the outcome is. Many philosophers have agreed on the case for Utilitarianism because it claims that we should calculate the outcome of our actions before doing them. For example, if our actions will hurt some people and benefit others, then we should compare them and see how many people will be affected and how many will benefit from our actions. If the benefit is higher than the damage, then it is morally right for us to do it. Otherwise, we should avoid the action. …show more content…

According to Kantian ethics, we have moral duties and we should never abandon them. This theory claims that we are not one-hundred percent sure of what is good and what is bad; therefore, we should follow certain rules instead of doing wrong thing trying to avoid bad things to happen. For example, we should never lie even if the lie will benefit the humanity in general and never affect anyone. One of the clearest examples about the disagreement between Utilitarianism and Kantian ethics is lying. On the one hand, Kant claims that we should never lie even if we can safe lives and help other people. On the other hand, Utilitarianism’s claim is that lying is permissible in certain circumstances when its benefit is more than its damage. For Kant, lying is immoral because people get used to lying after lying the first time to help others. But Utilitarianism says that when we can safe a life, like hiding the location of an innocent person from a criminal, we are doing what is morally

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