Immanuel Kant is a philosopher who tried to understand how people can be good and kind – outside the influence and persuasion of traditional religion. The philosopher was born in 1724 in the Baltic town of Königsberg. Categorical Imperatives are the principles that Kant defined by their morality and level of freedom. It is a moral obligation that only applies when pursuing a particular target.
Today, if a person wants to achieve something at the expense of another person, this will be considered immorality and the achievement of a personal goal to the detriment of other people. Unfortunately, there are many such cases; for example, someone, at the expense of someone’s merits, promotes himself as the author of inventions, although he is not one at all. It is not permissible since it harms society and benefits only the initiator of the case.
Utilitarianism is a theory of morality that welcomes the spread of happiness through certain acts and considers reducing happiness to be an immoral act. According to Scarre, “Utilitarianism represents an old and distinguished tradition in moral philosophy, the influence of which extends to law, economics, public policy, and other realms and is evident in much of our everyday moral thinking” (Scarre, 2020). If an action has made a certain number of people happy, it is considered ethically correct. Actions should maximize pleasure and minimize the pain of a specific group of people. These theories are among the most famous and widespread today.
These theories imply the spread of happiness everywhere and for everyone. However, happiness is a subjective thing that will make some happy but bring harm and resentment to another part of a particular group of people. It is followed by the fact that making everyone happy will never work; happiness will bring grief to someone and be viewed as an injustice.
Reference
Scarre, G. (2020). Utilitarianism. Routledge.