Comparison of utilitarian, Kantian and Humean ethics
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Compare utilitarian ethics with both Kant's ethics and Hume's view of ethics.
I'm just looking for a way to go on this subject because I find both Kant's and Hume's view on ethic confusing.
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Solution Summary
Whereas for Hume and the utilitarians morality is not based on reason alone, for Kant it is. How each camp develops their argument is the subject of this post.
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Compare utilitarian ethics with both Kant's ethics and Hume's view of ethics
I'm just looking for a way to go on this subject because I find both Kant's and Hume's view on ethic confusing.
Utilitarianism is based on the belief that everyone desires happiness and pleasure. From this simple fact that everyone desires happiness, the utilitarians concluded that morality could be understood in terms of the happiness principle. The good is achieved when there is more pleasure and less pain. Therefore, an act is good if it produces pleasure and diminishes pain. Utilitarianism is therefore the "greatest happiness for the greatest number".
It could be argued that utilitarianism was influenced by Hume who was a moral sentimentalist. Unlike Kant whose ...
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