Kant and Mill

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the views expressed by Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill with regards to the metaphysics of morals and utilitarianism. In other words, it discusses moral obligations and motivations. The paper presents various examples where there are issues with morality and describes how Kant and Mill would view the situation and the conclusions they may have drawn.

From the Paper:

"Mill, on the other hand, might view Judah's act as one that is morally permissible. For Mill, the principle of utility must factor in the relative pain of Dolores' death, and the pain of those who would be affected by allowing her to reveal their affair. With Dolores dead, Judah, his family, friends, and others would be spared the psychological harm of dealing with adultery and betrayal. No one would have to deal with the horrible divorce that would ensue. However, had Dolores broken up his marriage, then it seems no one, not even Judah or Dolores would be happy. So, in this sense, one would view the murder as a morally defensible action. This, however, does not seem entirely correct, as the pain of Dolores' death seems a much greater slight than the pain that his family would experience by the knowledge of the affair. Mill's principle of utility seems to be able to account for qualitative factors (in separating the two forms of pleasure, Mill obviously views qualitative factors as meaningful in moral calculus), thereby providing the justification that Dolores' murder is unacceptable, as her pain would outweigh the potential pleasure realized by her death, or the pain that would accompany her revealing the affair (cf. Mill 11)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Kant, Immanuel. Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals ; with, on a Supposed Right to Lie Because of Philanthropic Concerns. Translated by James W. Ellington. 3rd ed. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. Co., 1993.
• Mill, John Stuart, and George Sher. Utilitarianism. 2nd ed. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub., 2001.

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