Kantian Ethics

- Deontological ethics - duty

- Good will is the only good and it is not equated or not the same with happiness.

(Good will) Rational beings to follow their duty and act according with Moral Law.
Moral Law:

Categorical Imperative
- something you must always do.
- universal laws.
- is something you do in order for you to achieve something else.

Good will, for Kant, is an indispensable condition in order to achieve the rightness of an
act.
To act morally is to act from no other motive than the motive of doing what is right.
Thus, for Kant, moral commands are always categorical and not hypothetical.
Kantian ethics are a set of universal moral principles that apply to all human beings,
regardless of context or situation. It is known as categorical Imperatives, which are
defined by their morality and level of freedom.
People have a duty to do the right thing, even if it produces a bad result. So, for
example, the philosopher Kant thought that it would be wrong to tell a lie in order to
save a friend from a murderer. ... So, a person is doing something good if they are
doing a morally right action.
Utilitarianism, in normative ethics, a tradition stemming from the late 18th- and 19th-
century English philosophers and economists Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill
according to which an action (or type of action) is right if it tends to promote happiness
or pleasure and wrong if it tends to produce unhappiness.
Utilitarianism suggests that actions are correct if they are useful or to the benefit of a
majority of the population.

3 fundamental principles that utilitarianism follows to create an ethical structure for

society:
1. Actions are right and only right if the consequences of them maximize whatever is
good.

2. The only thing that is good in society is happiness.

3. Actions are only correct if they can maximize pleasure for the majority.
Advantages of Utilitarianism

1. It focuses on happiness as a society.

-putting happiness as the central reason for our existence.

2. It teaches us that harming other people is wrong.

- definition of morality and ethics comes from a connunity-based perspective instead of
an individual outlook. (There may be choices that make us happy as an individual, but if
it does not help others, then it is an incorrect choice).

3. It seeks to create the highest good for the greatest number.

Disadvantages of Utilitarianism

1. It does not consider any other element besides happiness.

- focuses on "majority happiness" as a way to determine ethics and morality.
- it is essential that we remember there are other items of value to consider when
looking at the overall experience of what it means to be human.

Ex. Love is something which offers tremendous value (happiness), but it can cause also
extraordinary heartbreak.
There are decisions that we make everyday that look at a long-term perspective rather
than how we feel at the moment.

2. It creates an unrealistic perspective for society because it always focuses on the

happiness of the majority; the happiness of the minority is being neglected.

3. It can be unpredictable.
- it is incorrect to base ethical choices about what may or may not happen tomorrow.

4. It relies on people making inconsistent decisions.

- if there is one thing that humans are good at doing, it is changing their minds.
- the average person will act selfishly whenever they are faced with a difficult decision,
no matter what their upbringing or spirituality happens to be.

5. It relies on multiple definitions of happiness.

- every person has a different definition of happiness. The conceot od happiness is
relative. What makes the majority happy may make the minority unhappy.

6. It creates the potential for the majority to rule through tyranny.

- just because the majority of a population believes something is right does not make it
the ethical choice.

"Sometimes the correct choice is not the popular choice."

Think of a unique symbol that would best represent taxation. Explain why you have chosen that symbol to
best represent taxation. (Your explanation should not be more than 100 words and should not be
less than 75 words.) (Rubrics: Symbol=20%, Organization of idea=15%, Clarity=15%)