Kantianism Vs Utilitarianism Essay

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Kantianism and Utilitarianism ethics are the opposite of each other. Kantianism intends to conform to the rules that are considered correct independently of the consequences deriving from the action. From the view of Kantianism, the outcome of an action is something secondary and if the result of this action is followed by evil, injustice or pain, then it was because of the responsibility of others of not being able to respect the moral law to which they should have been attuned to. On the other hand, Utilitarianism is the complete opposite of Kantianism. That is because Utilitarianism takes in consideration the consequences of the action so that a person can determine which action is better than another since they can foresee which one will …show more content…
In contrast, Utilitarian ethics aims to improve the world and often the means are justified by the end. A Kantian would rather save an innocent person even if the consequence of doing that would mean the destruction of the world. A Utilitarian would rather save the world even if that meant one person had to die. According to Kant, actions are good only if they are accordant to our duties. Kantian ethics is essentially autonomous, that is, the moral law is given by the person himself, because of his good will. The morality of an action is given from within the person and not imposed from outside matters. In Kantian ethics, it is the will that drives the action and not the action itself; the will is what makes it morally right or wrong. In order to understand Kantian ethics, it is important to understand the concept of goodwill. The concept of goodwill from a Kantian perspective might not be the same as what we understand by goodwill in terms of solidarity itself. But that goodwill is precisely a will that follows the mandate of our duty. The results of an action are irrelevant to Kant. For Kant, what matters is not the action itself or the objective to be achieved, but how we decide what is better to

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