Practical Judgment

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the philosophies of Aristotle, Immanuel Kant, David Hume and John Stuart Mill, all acclaimed philosophers who each claim that their respective approach to ethics is dependent on the proper exercise of practical judgment. It shows how Aristotle's thoughts are more of a generalization without any guiding principles for the practical decision making process while Hume's theory is more cogitative and lies centered on a cognitive reasoning in the role of a detached observer. It examines how Kant's reasoning on ethics seems more apt, simplistic but practical applications may result in unacceptable results, while Mill's philosophy seems to be the best particularly his definition of a good action as being good not for oneself alone but to a lot of people augurs well for the society as a whole.

From the Paper:

"Immanuel Kant is a philosopher of the eighteenth century. His greatness was reflected in his first published work "Critique of pure reasoning" (1781). The central theme of Kant's approach to ethics is that he considers human beings as having "dual consciousness". Herein he differs from Aristotle who did not consider the concept of duality. Kant views humans as both intelligent and at the same time not devoid of non-rational impulses. Hence he argues that there is a need for moral principles to guide in our decision making. Kant's argument is based on the point that Humans endowed with the reasoning are also prone to succumb to non-rational impulses. So Kant proposes that moral actions result when reason prevails over these Non rational impulses."

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