Kantian Ethical Theory, Utilitarianism and Natural Law Theory
The salient feature of Kant’s Ethical Theory (KET) is that it places the greatest importance
on the reasons behind why we act as we do, rather than on the results of our actions. It
promotes respect for each person and the basic premise that people base their actions on
good will. Utilitarianism says that the amount of happiness and suffering created by an
action is what really matters. In its most basic form it tries to answer the question: How do
I get what I want within the framework of acting in an appropriate manner and causing the
most amount of good and least amount of harm to everyone and everything around me?
Natural Law Theory (NLT) says that human beings intrinsically know right from wrong
and have inalienable rights that are handed down by God. People have free will and act in
accordance to their inherent knowledge of right and wrong, good and evil.
In KET, you act right or ethically when you act in accordance with appropriate principles;
a set of universal principles that motivate you to treat everyone with respect. “Kant
developed his theory of ethics by considering some of our most fundamental
commonsense intuitions about the nature of morality. On the basis of such intuitions, he
articulates a basic moral principle that is strikingly different from the principles of other
moral theories, such as utilitarianism, egoism, or virtue ethics.” (Timmons, 2012, p. 152)
According to Kant we should first visualize an ‘end’ (goal to attain) because there is no
action without a goal to accomplish. Visualizing the end result subjects a person to think
about a principle (rational or normative process) required to use as a means to accomplish
the goal. Kant calls this a ‘hypothetical imperative’. The principle (process) is hypothetical
because it requires us to specific actions only if we ‘will’ the end (goal) in question. If the
person needs to accomplish the goal out of a sense of moral duty or other obligation, then
the imperative would be called categorical.
Kant says that society needs rules to function and a person is moral only to the extent that
he or she follows those rules. Kant was a major proponent of Deontology and attempted to
clarify his ideas through his three formulations of his Categorical Imperative (CI) maxim:
1) “Always act in such a way that you could will that the maxim of your act become a
