Intelligence, wit, judgment, and the other talents of the mind, however they be named, or courage, resoluteness, and perseverance as qualities of temperament, are doubtless in many respects good and desirable. But they can become extremely bad and harmful if the will, which is to make use of these gifts of nature and which in its special constitution is called character, is not good. (Kant 2: p 9)
John Stuart Mill on the other hand proposed a different theory of morality which stated that an action is right if it promotes happiness of the greatest number of people. In other words, if an action maximizes general happiness then it can be deemed moral. Mill felt that maximization of general happiness was the pre-requisite because "each person, so far as he believes it to be attainable, desires his own happiness" (Mill qtd. In McCloskey, 61). This was his utilitarian belief and was based on the notion that man's desires his own pleasure. Thus by maximizing the general happiness, he would also be maximizing his own pleasure and since it is not only him benefiting from the action, we can term it moral. Since pleasure, to Mill, was the only goal that man strived to attain with his actions thus morality, "the rules and precepts for human conduct" (Kolak, 834), was also based on this notion. Mill completely rejected Kantian belief that morality occurs when good will is the driving force behind an action. He felt that a moral action should be based on possibility of good consequences and not on good intentions alone.
While there are some flaws in both theories, it is Kant's moral law which makes far more sense than Mill's utilitarian idea of morality. For one, man doesn't always act with the goal of maximizing other people's happiness because one some occasions, their happiness might not result in his own pleasure. Suppose a person X loves...
Mill, Kant, And Torture An Analysis of the Utilitarian and Kantian Arguments for and against Torture Alan Dershowitz expresses moral approval (with reservations) in his essay "Should the Ticking Time Bomb Terrorist be Tortured?" Dershowitz's argument is essentially that of a Utilitarian. But it also contains elements of Kantianism. While a Kantian, however, could argue against the moral correctness of torture, Dershowitz steers the argument away from a Kantian perusal of the
Mill, Kant, Religion, And Gay Marriage In theory, freedom and liberty for all appears to be an excellent concept, one which nearly everyone would embrace. However, the practice of this ideology is not always as halcyon as its theoretical mandate. Quite frequently, it is possible for there to be conflicts of interests presented due to the notion that everyone feels entitled to pursue that which he or she wishes. There are
Thus, according to Mill, a state of thriving morality would be that in which each individual constantly pursues his own happiness and at the same time that of the others, through all his actions. Mills uses as a central argument for his theory of morality the 'golden rule' of Christianity, as he calls it, which states that each individual should only act as he in his turn would be
prostitution is a dirty word. Yet governments support it and benefit from it. This paper discusses prostitution in light of Kantian ethics and Mill's utilitarianism. MORAL PRINCIPLES: UTILITARIANISM vs. KANTIAN ETHICS To every decision there are always two sides attached; one that advocates an absolute standard and the other that questions this standard. Similarly when faced by a moral dilemma, one solution is to do in accordance with absolute moral standards and
Moral Philosophy Can desires and feelings be in accordance with or contrary to reason? Are they under the control of, or guided by, reason? Compare, contrast, and critically evaluate the answers of Aristotle and Hume to these questions and their arguments in support of those answers. David Hume is one of the most significant philosophers of the 18th Century. Hume is skeptical about moral truths, and he ascertains that ethics comes from
For example, many individuals value freedom and knowledge as things that can bring happiness. So, having their own value, these things are parts of happiness. Mill believed that everyone's happiness is important. He believed in what he called the 'greatest happiness principle.' According to the greatest happiness principle, a person is ethically required to try to bring about the consequences that would lead to the greatest amount of happiness for
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