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Secualr Ethics Kantianism and Utilitarianism are two theories that attempt to answer the moral nature of human beings. Immanuel Kant's moral system is based on a
Submitted by John32 on November 20, 2005
Category: Philosophy
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Kantianism and Utilitarianism are two theories that attempt to answer the moral nature of human beings. Immanuel Kant's moral system is based on a belief that reason is the final authority for morality. John Stuart Mill's moral system is based on the theory known as utilitarianism, which is based upon utility, or doing what produces the greatest happiness.
One of Kant's lasting contributions to moral philosophy was his emphasis on the notion of respect for persons. He considers respect for persons to be the fundamental moral principle of ethical philosophy. His Kantianism premise is a deontological moral theory, which claims that the right action in any given situation is determined by the "categorical imperative". This imperative is a command that applies to all rational beings independent of their desires. It is a command that reason tells us to follow no matter what. Kant considers this an objective law of reason and because it applies to all of us, he calls it a universal practical law for all rational beings. (pg.54-56) The hypothetical imperative, on the contrary, is a conditional command. (pg.56-57) For example, if you want X, then you will do Y, whereas with the categorical imperative, X has nothing to do with why you do Y.
It is vital to understand the formulations that accompany the "categorical imperative." Kant upheld systematic laws as the model of rational principles. A
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characteristic of systematic laws is that they are universal, such as the law that when heated, gas will expand. Kant thought that moral laws or principles must have universality to be rational. He derives the "categorical imperative" out of the notion that we should be willing to adopt those moral principle that can be universalized, that is, those that we can imagine that everyone could act upon or adopt as their principle. Thus, the first formulation of the "categorical imperative" is, "Act only according to that maxim whereby you can...
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