Immanuel kant v John S. Mill
Learning about Utilitarianism was a bit of a roller coaster, as there were times when objections were valid and sound in contrast to Mill’s defenses. Despite the lack of clarity with Kant’s position upfront, I am finding myself more drawn to his theory of good will than that of utility.
Utilitarianism also dubbed the theory of life, endorsed by Mill, postulates the worth of a deed is based on the amount of happiness it brings.
We have just began reading Kant, and he takes a different approcah to the theory of life. According to Kant, thus far, the end-result of a good deed is irrelevant if the action was not endeavored with good will.
Good will as discussed in class, can be interpreted as reason. Kant unlike Mill is seeing good will as a guide for determining our purpose or duty in life.
Mill does not take into consideration the intent of an act, but he relies heavily on the outcome of an action; furthermore if the action whether good or bad increases happiness it is considered acceptable.
Despite the noble appeal of Kant’s approach, we already saw that reason can complicate our lives rather than using it to attain happiness.
It remains to be seen the high points of Kant’s approach.
