Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Immanuel Kant’s ethics, which is an instance of deontology, and the utilitarian systems of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, which fall under consequentialism, have been two important rivals with divergent approaches to ethical issues. While utilitarianism of Bentham and Mill claim to be objective and based their theory on the principle of utility, which they regard as the yardstick for distinguishing good action from bad action; Kant’s ethics which is a stern deontologism, on the contrary, emphasize not on utility nor consequences of an action, but on the motive (of duty) which must adhere to a categorical imperative – subjectively determined via universalization and respect for humanity in terms of ascertaining right or wrong actions. This paper treats utilitarianism before Kantian ethics. It attempts to critically compare the two divergent ethical views in order to draw out both their strengths and weaknesses. Consequently, this research submits that, because of these strengths and weaknesses observable in both Benthamite-Millian utilitarian morality and Kantian ethics, instead of antagonizing each other, they should rather complement each other because there is no absolute or certain solution to moral issues, which are always in a continuous flux.
Language: English
Subfield: Philosophy
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7217049522