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. He says that one must act not only in accordance to duty, but for the sake of duty However, According to the Utilitarianism, Mill emphasizes that the actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness Immanuel Kant is the founder of the Kantian branch of ethics and morality, and his theories are personally my favorite theory of ethics so far. According to the utilitarianism, the best action is the one that maximizes utility. However, in Kant’s moral philosophy, people …show more content…
The theory of deontology states we are morally obligated to act in accordance with obvious set of principles and rules regardless of results. Deontological ethics focuses on duties, and rights. The term deontological was coined by the utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham, who described it as “knowledge of what is right or proper” Bentham thought that deontology points in the direction of principle of utility. But contemporary philosophers use the term deontological to indicate a contrast with the utilitarian focus on the consequences of action. Instead of focusing on consequences, deontological ethics focus on duties and obligation: things we ought to do regardless of the consequences. While utilitarian ethics focuses on producing the greatest happiness for the greatest number, deontological ethics focuses on what makes us worthy of happiness. For Kant, as for the Stocis and other who emphasize duty, we are worthy of happiness only when we do our duty. As Kant explained, morality “is not properly the doctrine of how we are to make ourselves happy but of how we are to become worthy of happiness.” For Kant, morality is not a “doctrine of happiness” or set of instructions on how to become happy. Rather, morality is the “rational condition of happiness”
In the case of Kantian ethics, imagine a murderer comes to the door asking for your friend, who is in the other room. Our moral intuition would likely tell us not to tell the murderer where our friend was. On the other hand, Kant believed we had a moral imperative to not lie to the murderer. In the case of Utilitarianism, Peter Singer has a famous example involving a drowning kid and malnourished kids in a third world country. Imagine that you are on a way to a job interview and you pass a lake where a kid is drowning.
First, both of the frameworks require a systemic form of logical reasoning. As mentioned, Aristotle’s virtue ethics is depended upon the virtuous being of the person, where that person alone must make the golden mean choice. In contrast, deontological ethics places more emphasis on a balance
While the strengths perspective uses the language of social justice and empowerment, the solutions it suggests are essentially grounded in (neo)liberal notions of individual responsibility, which have their roots in Kantian ethics and utilitarian means–end justifiation. Like liberalism, it upholds autonomy as an overriding moral ideal, a belief in people’s ability to choose with informed consent as the “standard liberal procedure by which agents manifest their autonomy” (Kristjánsson, 2007, p. 45). Liberalism promotes a small core of values, inflting autonomous choice and “the benefis of high self-esteem [which]…fosters the current self-help and therapy culture” (p. 178) of which social work, and especially the strengths perspective, is a part.
Personally, I tend to agree with Aristotle, Aristotle's approach recognizes the importance of personal growth and moral development, allowing us to continually strive for excellence in our lives. Virtue ethics acknowledges the importance of individual situations and moral decisions may vary based on cultural and situational factors. While Kant's deontological ethics has its positives, such as focusing on universal principles and respect for humans, I find its strict calling to duty and rationality to be limiting. The deontological approach may overlook the diversity of moral situations, potentially leaving out many cultures. While both philosophers have greatly impacted philosophy throughout the centuries and remain some of the cornerstones in modern philosophy, I still lean more towards Aristotle even though Kant has had more of an impact on our basic morale and ethical views such as; Don’t steal or Don’t cheat.
Human beings are the only things that have true value. Their moral worth allows them to work out whether an action is the right thing to do or if it is the wrong thing to do. This essay will aim to show how the Utilitarian’s and Kantian’s view punishment for a crime and explains how the Kantian view provides a better moral theory. The Utilitarian’s view of morality is that it (morality) is dependent on the consequences of actions and the level of happiness that is brought about by a specific action.
Deontology which is derived from the Greek words Deon (meaning obligation/duty) and logia (science/study) combined to be also known as duty or rule-based ethics or the study of duties or obligations. It is a branch of ethical theories that deals with ethics of conduct, which theories are based on the sort of actions people must perform. It is based on non-consequentialism where the ends do not justify the means and thus deontology is an approach to ethics in which a sense of duty or principle prescribes the ethical decision (Preston, 2007). Deontology affirms duties must be obeyed regardless of the consequences. The theory of Deontology has its flaws as well and this essay will present three criticisms of deontology namely that deontology relies on moral absolutes, allows acts that make the world a worse place, two permissible duties that are right can conflict with each other and will demonstrate these flaws with relevant case studies and dilemmas.
Just the word alone is a great summary of what this philosophy deals with. Kant, the German philosopher who developed deontology, taught that the highest good one could achieve is that of good will. However to achieve this highest good one must be motivated only by a duty or
When two groups of people coexist it is possible that one group can become subjected by the other. But is it possible for the superior society based on reason to do such things? In Kant’s ideal a “kingdom of ends” the kingdom is ruled by Kantian rational human beings. The question then becomes ‘what is the purpose of non-rational beings?’ What rights would be given to the hodgepodge of living beings?
As a Kantian, the ultimate goal is to focus on our maxims and not on how much pain or pleasure the act could possibly produce. So as a result, Kant would argue that Jim should not kill the Indian man, even if it would save the other Indian men. The reason why is because Kant does not believe in using people as mere means, it wouldn’t be considered a conceivable maxim, and it would be betraying a perfect duty. The definition of deontology is having the belief that you do what’s right because you have a moral duty.
When discussing both act and rule utilitarianism, it is important to understand that both of them agree in terms of the overall consequence of an action, because they emphasize on creating the most beneficial pleasure and happiness in the outcome of an act. Despite this fact, they both have different principles and rules that make them different from each other. Act utilitarianism concentrates on the acts of individuals. Meaning that if a person commits an action, he/she must at least have a positive utility. The founders of utilitarianism define positive utility as happiness and pleasure and consider it to be a driving force of all positive and morally right acts.
Utilitarianism aims at achieving what is useful for people. It aims at the greatest good for the greatest amount of people. Kantians defines morals in relation of absolute duty. They believe right behavior should be chose regardless of the consequences. The problem I see with Kantianism is its too absolute.
Deontology and Utilitarianism are similar in that the tenets of each aims at promoting the well-being of others by doing good. However, there are several differences between Deontology and Utilitarianism. Deontology focuses on the moral intention of an act.
Differently the philosopher Kant has an ethical believe in ourselves for own definition of morality caring what society, church or people around us say. "For Kantians, there are two questions that we must ask ourselves whenever we decide to act: (i) Can I rationally will that everyone act as I propose to act? If the answer is no, then we must not perform the action. (ii) Does my action respect the goals of human beings rather than merely using them for my own
In this essay, I compared Utilitarianism and Deontology, and argued that Deontology is a better ethics system than Utilitarianism because, while Utilitarianism focuses solely on results, Deontology considers humans as more than just a means to an end and provides for a system of generally accepted
Utilitarianism is different from Kantianism because it says that you can perform any action even if it provides some harm to others, but at the end it should provide maximum utility. But on the other end, Kantianism says that you need to treat everyone equal, no one less than the other. They both hold different views but they both are right in certain situations. Utilitarianism and Kantianism conflict in many situations. For example, you have a friend who’s pregnant, but she’s scared to tell her parents.