Kant

Utilitarianism is the doctrine that an action is right as long as it encourages happiness. Utilitarianism is founded on the notion that the happiness of the maximum number of people in society is considered the greatest good. Utilitarianism is an attractive tool for moral decision making for numerous reasons. Utilitarianism affords a clear basis for testing policies, it also provides an objective way to resolve conflicts of self-interest, and it offers a flexible method to decision making.

Utilitarianism instructs people to maximize happiness, but it does have negatives aspects. When using utilitarianism, some actions can still be considered wrong even though they produce good. It is also challenging to measure a person’s level of happiness or unhappiness, which can make utilitarianism inaccurate. Utilitarianism can also be considered unjust because it overlooks considerations of justice and the delivery of happiness. For example, eminent domain can benefit the government and leave them happy while forcing a land owner to sell their property, which is unjust.

Kant’s Theory, also known as the deontological theory, is a theory that states moral reasoning is not based on accurate knowledge and the outcomes of our actions do not define whether they are right or wrong. Kant’s theory states that nothing is good in itself except good will and contained in the idea of good will is the concept of duty. Kant’s theory of ethics states that only when we act from a sense of duty does our action have moral value.

Kant believed that there is only one command that is uncompromising, the categorical imperative. Kant’s categorical imperative declares individuals should always act in a way that we can will the maxim of our action to become a universal law. There are also two alternatives to the categorical imperative. The first being, an act is only right if the actor is willing to be treated that way, “treat other’s the way you would want to be treated”. The second...