Unlock document.
This document is partially blurred.
Unlock all pages and 1 million more documents.
Get Access
KANTIAN DEONTOLOGY
Kantianism vs Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is often criticized for treating as individuals as mere containers for happiness: it
seems that what matters from a utilitarian perspective is not the individual itself but the
happiness of which the individual is capable
Kant offers a radically different moral framework that puts the focus on the inherent respect
and recognition of dignity owed to individuals themselves.
Kant also rejects the focus on maximizing happiness. In his view, morality cannot depend on
what makes people happy—that is sort of arbitrary! All sorts of immoral things can make
people happy (i.e. think: the happiness of the sadist who enjoys torturing innocent people
cannot be a “right-making” feature…).
Thus, right and wrong, for Kant, have to be defined independently of happiness.
The Categorical Imperative
