Kants Moral Theory and Utilitarism Comparison Essay

Kant’s moral theory and utilitarianism are two very different moral theories. Kant’s moral theory works off of the categorical imperative. Utilitarianism works off of the greatest happiness principle. Morality and right action are very different within these two theories, and the idea of slavery is a good example of the differences. Utilitarianism can allow slavery, whereas Kant’s moral theory cannot allow slavery. Kant’s moral theory uses the categorical imperative as its basis. The categorical imperative states â€Å"act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law†. (Kant, pg. 30) A maxim is a reason a person commits and act. (Kant, pg. 30) Kant does not believe a person†¦show more content†¦Utilitarianism is a moral theory using the greatest happiness principle as its’ basis. The greatest happiness principle is mathematical and uses the number of individuals ex periencing happiness or pain. If an act promotes more happiness than pain for individuals involved, then the act is moral. (Mill, pgs. 1 and 7) Utilitarianism is a situational moral theory. There are actions that can be moral in some situations, but immoral in other situations. This can be confusing, because there is not always a moral act set in stone. Despite the confusion this is also a good thing, because the theory is extremely flexible. This can be a problem, because there are actions that can be performed under utilitarianism that are questionable at best in many other theories. There are two exerts, one form Immanuel Kant’s Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals and one from John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism, that help with the understanding of Kant’s moral theory and utilitarianism. The first is an example of how the categorical imperative is applied. â€Å" A man reduced to despair by a series of misfortunes feels sick of life but is still so far in possession of his reason that he can ask himself whether taking his own life would not be contrary to his duty to himself. Now he asks whether the maxim of his action could become a universal law of nature. But his maxim is this: from self-love I make as my principle to shorten my life when its