Utilitarianism Or Kantianism Essay Research Paper Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism Or Kantianism Essay, Research Paper

Utilitarianism or Kantianism, Which theory of ethics is correct?

In choosing an ethical theory one must ascertain which is right to them

mentally because, To choose one over the other must mean that you believe in

that one to the fullest extent. That?s why I believe the only true Ethical

Theory in life ?today? is Utilitarianism. The main Utilitarian value is

happiness not for one person but for all of society. Utilitarianism is a very

rational way of thought, in which we consider all people as equals among

themselves.

(I say today because, a theory is only as good for as long as it last and no

one knows if a new theory will be discovered tomorrow.)

As all ethical theories, Utilitarianism is based on rights and wrongs of

human society. One principle of Utilitarianism is, the ultimate good (end or

purpose) of human life is happiness, not simply of a single individual in

isolation from others, but of all individuals together. This principle is very

important because it starts many disputes between people about what is good for

the majority of a society.

Utilitarianism has many principles but for this paper I will only be

discussing a few of the major points, such as actions of rights and wrongs. What

makes an act right is its consequences. ?Actions are right in proportion as

they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of

happiness.? How an action affects individuals, whether it causes them

pleasures or pain. One?s actions towards anything in life causes consequences,

these consequences are most of the time overlooked by the action maker, and its

results will be felt by others in the near future.

The Utilitarian standard is a social standard. What is right is not what

brings happiness to one, but what brings happiness to the majority. Many of the

Utilitarian principles are geared to an almost perfect world for all of

humanity. This orientation towards a Utopia society is one of the major reasons

why I believe Utilitarianism will prove to be the right theory of Ethics.

Utilitarianism is not without faults. One major point of this argument is

about happiness and good for the many as apposed to the few. Although we all

agree that happiness should be maximized for all, most of us cannot agree on

what is happiness and what is good and who decided. Utilitarianism offers us a

small look into this question by stating that, what is good is what society

defines good to be. For example, No one would ever disagree that helping someone

is wrong, but if helping someone shows your weakness towards others most people

would see you as weak hearted.

Kantianism is another theory of ethics, which believes that a human life

cannot be measured by quantity. This view on ethics is very interesting to

consider because it?s a one-eighty twist from Utilitarianism. In which we

notice that quantity is a main issue in life and its choices. Kantianism is

school of thought in which one life cannot be compared to another or many more.

One principle of Kantianism is "Act only according to that maxim by

which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law."

This simple means that, one should do something that at the same time if done to

you would be acceptable by you. This argument is right on a fundamental level,

but we all know in life most people don’t feel this way about there choices,

they feel that they should do whatever brings them the most good.

Kantianism has a view of ethics that consist mainly of someone’s intentions

rather than the consequences. The good will factor is what Immanuel Kant argues

about. Suppose, A young child decides to help an old lady with her bags, but in

haste to rush up the stairs the young child spills the bags and breaks some of

the glass jars. Now the old lady is in total despair because all of her food is

lost because the child ran up the stairs. The older woman doesn’t stop to think

that the child had "good intentions" but decides to notify the child’s

parents and see to it that she is punished for her mistake. This is just an

example of how people today see life’s consequences and not someone’s good

intentions.

Kant proposes a very radical way of thought to our society today, and he

maybe right on the long run but the common practice today is Utilitarianism and

it’s consequence theory. Utilitarianism is used all around us today and over

history as well. The United States used this theory in its assault on Hiroshima,

Japan during World War II. They dropped an atomic bomb on Japan that they knew

was going to kill hundreds of thousands of people in a matter of minutes. This

act alone was justified in America because it was calculated at being able to

end the War and save the lives of millions of Allied soldiers. The United States

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