Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher who lived 1724-1804, and John Stuart Mill, a British philosopher who lived 1806-1873, were two of the greatest moral philosophers of all time. Mill presents and defends the moral theory of Utilitarianism while Kant rejects that theory and defends his own moral theory.
According to Kant, the moral worth of an action is not determined by the consequences that result from it, but rather by the motive from which the action was performed.
The only thing that is good w/out qualification is a Good Will, A Good Will is a will that acts From duty, and Only actions that are produced by a Good Will have Moral Worth.
Kant thinks that the only thing that is good in and of itself (i.e. intrinsically good) is a Good …show more content…
Thus, happiness is not intrinsically good! Rather, it needs to be controlled by a Good Will in order to be good.
A Good Will is a will that acts From duty.
A will that acts from Duty is a will that out of respect for the Moral Law . And, to act out of respect for the Moral Law is to do the right thing because it is the right.
Again, what Kant thinks is important from the moral point of view is the motive of the agent.
To see how motive is important to Kant (and to see what it means to say that one is acting from duty), it is useful to look at the various ways one can act in accordance with duty (and thus perform the right action).
Indirect Inclination :
Here on has no immediate inclination (or desire) towards duty (that is, they do not even want to do the right thing), but they do it to achieve some other goal or desire they have.
Direct Inclination :
Here one does have an immediate inclination towards duty. (They do want to do the right thing.) They do the right thing b/c they like doing the right thing.
Acting out of Respect for the Moral Law : Here one does the right thing simply because it is the right thing. I perform the action b/c I see that the action is morally required (i.e. that duty requires
According to Kant, the moral worth of an action is not determined by the consequences that result from it, but rather by the motive from which the action was performed.
The only thing that is good w/out qualification is a Good Will, A Good Will is a will that acts From duty, and Only actions that are produced by a Good Will have Moral Worth.
Kant thinks that the only thing that is good in and of itself (i.e. intrinsically good) is a Good …show more content…
Thus, happiness is not intrinsically good! Rather, it needs to be controlled by a Good Will in order to be good.
A Good Will is a will that acts From duty.
A will that acts from Duty is a will that out of respect for the Moral Law . And, to act out of respect for the Moral Law is to do the right thing because it is the right.
Again, what Kant thinks is important from the moral point of view is the motive of the agent.
To see how motive is important to Kant (and to see what it means to say that one is acting from duty), it is useful to look at the various ways one can act in accordance with duty (and thus perform the right action).
Indirect Inclination :
Here on has no immediate inclination (or desire) towards duty (that is, they do not even want to do the right thing), but they do it to achieve some other goal or desire they have.
Direct Inclination :
Here one does have an immediate inclination towards duty. (They do want to do the right thing.) They do the right thing b/c they like doing the right thing.
Acting out of Respect for the Moral Law : Here one does the right thing simply because it is the right thing. I perform the action b/c I see that the action is morally required (i.e. that duty requires