kant versus utilitarianism
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"COMPARE AND CONTRAST KANTIAN AND UTILITARIAN APPROACHES TO ETHICS."
In this essay I intend to examine the approaches to ethics taken by Immanuel Kant and Utilitarianism. Both offer theories on right or wrong ways to act, but often disagree on just what constitutes acceptable human behaviour. I shall examine the Utilitarian mode of living first and then compare it with what Kant has to say.
The Utilitarian approach to ethics deals with empirical rather than normative judgements. For Utilitarianism what influences an agent's behaviour is irrelevant in judging the moral worth of a behaviour, which must be assessed independently of the moral agent concerned. An action is right if it proves useful in promoting happiness regardless of the individuals original motive. Actions are right if they produce what is good and prevent what is bad. "An action is right, the action you ought to do, if it seems to you likely to produce the greatest possible amount of happiness."( Raphael,1981,34)
The concept of Utilitarianism has been cited as going as far back as Socrates and Aristotle, and certainly the Utilitarian philosophers of the nineteenth century never claimed to be pioneers...