Philosophy
Question 1
Kant talks about two kinds of imperatives that create groundwork for metaphysics of morals. The two kinds of imperatives that Kant talks about include; hypothetical and categorical imperatives. Hypothetical imperative focuses on the consequences of an action that a person takes. A person can lie to save a life which is allowed under the hypothetical imperative. On the other hand, categorical imperative is the moral obligation that is absolute. Categorical imperative focuses on people acting on a principal that is deemed rational to all people in the society.
According to Kant’s deontological ethics, morality is measured based on the action’s adherence to the rules that exist. However, rules bind a person to a duty. For example, if there is a choice to lie to ensure that a life is saved from a murderer, it will be necessary to do all it takes to ensure an innocent life is saved. Categorical imperative is the true moral principal of Kant as it focuses on the maintaining the rules and regulations placed.
Question 2
Kant’s ethical theory is deontological and not teleological. The rules used are meant to promote the greater good. According to Kant, categorical imperatives objectives ensure that the morals are judged based on the factors considered by CI. However, the deontological theory looks at actions based on the adherence to the rules that have been place.
The rules are not moral for Kant since some actions might not help solve situations which might save lives of individuals. For example, in a case where there is a serial killer intending to kill a person, the person has to say the truth which might result to his or her death since there is need to adhere to the rules. However, if the person would tell lies to the serial killer, it would be easy to save a life within that moment even though the categorical imperatives rules will have been broken.
Question 3
Kant talks about ‘means’ and ‘ends’ in a person while making a categorically imperative decision. People have to make decisions which are right and they are ready to live with the decisions they make in their lives. For example, if a person has decided to lie about a factor, there is need for such a person to keep lying about the same issue. The ‘means’ are the decisions that people make in their lives.
These decisions will determine the ‘ends’ which are the results of the means. The ‘means’ help in determining the ‘ends’ which means that, it is important for a person to think about the right means to be followed to achieve the right and appropriate ends. Kant has helped in explaining the relation between the means and the ends through the rules that need to be followed in categorical imperative.
Question 4
Kant looks at categorical imperative as a way to determine whether an action is moral in the society. Categorical imperative helps in evaluating the action of an individual and the motivation behind an action taken by a person. According to Kant, all moral actions are determined by categorical imperative. Kant thus believes that categorical imperative helps in determining the morals in individuals in the society.
Categorical imperative thus serves as the best in determining whether an action is moral or not. All the immoral actions in people are considered as irrational since they violate the categorical imperative. It is important to understand that, categorical imperative determines the rationality of actions thereby determining whether the actions are morally right or wrong. Kant thus provides the reasons for determining the moral rights of individuals based on the principle of CI that provides unconditional principals that persons must follow to stay morally right.
Mill
Question 5
According to Mill, pleasure is considered to be of high quality if a person can choose the pleasure over a different type of pleasure even if the different type of pleasure is greater or the pleasure is accompanies with a discomfort. On the other hand, a high quantity pleasure is one that lasts for a longer period of time. The pleasure might not be very satisfactory but it lasts for a longer period as compared to other pleasures.
The rule of utilitarianism is also defined as the principle of the greatest happiness. According to the rule, actions are deemed right if they tend to promote happiness in a person. When making moral judgements on actions by individuals, it is important to look at not only the quantity of pleasure but also the quality of pleasure. The decisions that individuals make result from the amount of pleasure that will be received by the individuals. It is thus important to understand the difference between quality and quantity of pleasure.
Question 6
Utilitarianism situations are based on the rule that the end justifies the means. All actions are done to ensure that a person is happy in the long run. An example of a utilitarianism situation is where a company decides to downsize the staff members due to higher costs of operations. In such a situation, the company decides to fire a number of staff members. The decision reached to fire the staff members will make them jobless.
The decision is better off to the company since it will save the company money but worse off to the customers since it takes away their source of income. The decision reached by the company is meant please the management since it will help in saving on costs of operation thus maximizing on profits. To make the company better off, some people had to be made worse off thus satisfying the rule of utilitarianism.
Question 7
The objection focuses on the need for the people to maintain happiness in their lives. According to the objection, happiness is not a necessity in people’s lives and people are able to survive without happiness as they grow. The purpose of human life is not happiness thus the objection focuses on looking at the purpose of human life away from happiness. The objection creates a belief that people can live their lives without happiness which means people are able to live while sad and facing difficult situations on a daily basis.
Mill believes that everything that a human being does in life is meant to promote happiness in the long run. According to Mill, every action taken or step taken by an individual is meant to ensure that a person is happy in the long run. Mill thus does not believe that human beings can live without happiness since that is the purpose of live even though he belives that happiness is exaggerated.
Question 8
Mill believes that the sacrifice of one’s happiness for the happiness of another person is the highest virtue in humans. Additionally, Mill states that it is difficult for persons to maintain such an attitude of willingness to sacrifice their happiness for the happiness of others. An example of such a situation is the sacrifice made by martyrs who give up their lives so that the society does not suffer from such an incident again.
Utilitarianism self-sacrifice and not morality since individuals work at ensuring that they are happy in one way or another. According to Mill, persons who work at ensuring that others are happy do that because it makes them happy.
