Verified Document

Kant And Mills Moral Philosophy Term Paper

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 acted upon by his fellow beings and that each person should love his neighbor as himself: "In the golden rule of Jesus we read the complete spirit of the ethics of utility: 'to do as you would be done by' and 'to love your neighbor as yourself."(Mills, 17) Morality is thus grounded on the awareness and the pursuit of individual good as well as the good of the whole. Of the two theories described here, Kant's metaphysics of morality seems to be the more pertinent one. The main reason is that to understand, as the German philosopher proposes, the abstract idea of good seems to be indeed the token of a superior, rational judgment. The value of good will is independent of the empirical conditions...

Mill's pursuit of general happiness seems less valid by comparison, because of the number of contradictions that can ensue (for example, the happiness of one person may be in the detriment of that of another human creature). Also, Kant realizes that in man's imperfect state, the empirical conditions can considerably change the outcome of a certain action that was meant to be good. Finally, the fact that Kant associates freedom of thought with what he calls a 'good will' suggests that a man has to be truly superior to be able to act solely on the basis of his will, and not from duty or self-interest. Thus, if everyone would act out of a truly 'good will', that is, the will that follows the abstract and pure idea of good, it could be said that the human society has evolved to a higher state. It can be maintained therefore that moral awareness is the most important thing in our world.
Works Cited

Kant, Immanuel. Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals.

Mill, John Stuart. What is Utilitarianism.

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited

Kant, Immanuel. Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals.

Mill, John Stuart. What is Utilitarianism.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Moral Philosophy
Words: 2861 Length: 10 Document Type: Research Paper

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

Philosophy of Kant's Deontology Deontological
Words: 666 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

As advanced by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, it is a system built entirely on the effects or consequences of an action, regardless of the intentions. This makes it quite clearly the opposite of deontology; according to deontological ethics, telling a lie is wrong even if it saves a million lives. According to utilitarianism, even doing something purposefully bad would be good if it accidentally had a good

Philosophy What Did Kierkegaard Mean
Words: 2576 Length: 7 Document Type: Essay

How is it possible, then, that we can come to know anything? Methodological doubt is best represented in the first of the Meditations, "What can be called into doubt." In this meditation, the meditator is forced to think about everything that he has believed throughout the course of his life. He must then make a conscious decision to do away with all of these lies and begin again so that the

Ethical Philosophies
Words: 710 Length: 2 Document Type: Case Study

Ethical Philosophies Sometimes, when faced with a situation within murky ethical waters, there are difficult decisions to make. This is not made easier by the various philosophical outlooks available today, some of which would provide contradictory advice. The ethics of Emmanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, John Rawls, and Aristotle might, for example provide widely different viewpoints on whether a charitable donation should be accepted from a business person whose main income

Don't Be Evil
Words: 819 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Google The overall viewpoint of the author is, well, the article is a bit of a hatchet job, running down a list of grievances collected on the Internet, going so far down the intellectual scale as to use snarky name-calling from random bloggers as evidence (p.310). There are logical fallacies contained in pretty much every point of argument the author makes. So while the overall viewpoint is clear -- the author

Ethics the Nineteenth Century German Philosopher Immanuel
Words: 705 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Ethics The nineteenth century German philosopher Immanuel Kant presented an ethical code that assigned a strict "right" or "wrong" to every action. Called the categorical imperative, Kant believed that it does not matter what the consequences or outcome of actions are; there are certain things that are right and certain things that are wrong. These ethical categories of right and wrong are not negotiable. It can never be "sometimes" ok to

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now