Utilitarian And Kantian Ethical Theories

In the essay I am writing today I will be comparing utilitarianism; also called consequentialism, and Kantian ethical theories. The attitude towards what is right or wrong is what constitutes the basic difference between the two theories. Utilitarianism says an act is justified if the end result is happiness for all. The Kantian theory states that end does not justify means, and whatever we do inside our obligations is morally good. The dilemma I used for this essay was under the Paradigm #4 Justice versus Mercy; Speeding into motherhood. In this paradigm Linda went into labor earlier than expected. Linda and her husband Walt were frantic, got into the car and sped to the hospital. As they were flying through suburbs of their community Walt …show more content…
The act whether wrong or right is solely a matter of the overall good including pleasure, happiness, health or satisfaction of individual desire. According to utilitarianism, morality is a matter of the non-moral good produced that results from moral actions and rules, and moral duty is instrumental, not intrinsic. This theory in short looks at the consequences of the action or decision to determine if that action is good or bad. A good person is someone who makes the decisions that create good outcomes. If Walt used the Utilitarianism theory to make his decision, he then would speed through his community to get his wife to the hospital in time to deliver his new baby no matter if he was endangering other people’s lives or happiness. His own happiness and new baby’s health would trump all because he would think that the good outcome of his decision would make him a good person, even putting other’s lives in danger. The policeman in this theory would let him go on mercy because he was doing “good” by trying to get his wife to the hospital in time so his baby could be born healthy. It wouldn’t have mattered that he could have hurt another child speeding through the community because he was saving his …show more content…
I believe in this paradigm the Kantianism theory is best suited for this example. Utilitarianism says that an act is justified if maximum numbers of people are deriving happiness out of it. Happiness would only be had for the married couple and their baby in this paradigm. If Walt would have hurt someone’s child or killed them, then there would be more people in that child’s life effected than just the couple and their baby. It is also the policeman’s duty and not just moral duty to protect the lives of others, and therefore I believe Walt should get what he deserved for breaking the law and the act of mercy should be