Bentham and Kant Essay

Jeremy Bentham was an English philosopher and political radical. He is highly kn avouch and reckon today for his moral philosophy, primarily his principle of utilitarianism. Utilitarianism evaluates mouldions based upon their consequences. Bentham is most excellently known for his pursuit of motivation and value. Bentham was a strong countr in individual and economic freedom, the separation of church and state, freedom of expression, equal straightlaced(ip)s for women, the right to divorce and the decriminalizing of homosexual acts.During his time he helped with the abolition of slavery, the abolition of the termination penalty and the abolition of physical punishment, including children. Bentham was born in Houndsditch, London in 1748 to a very wealthy family who supported the Tory party. He was very level-headed and bright minded. When he was a toddler he was found easy his fathers desk reading the history of England and at geezerhood tierce he began studying Latin. He o btained his masters degree from Oxford College in 1766, where there after he trained as a lawyer nevertheless never practiced.Instead, Bentham decided to write about the law. unrivaled of Benthams major influences was Joseph Priestley. Bentham read Priestleys work and had quickly changed his mind about the conservativist political views that he had grown up in. One statement in particular from The First Principles of Government and the Nature of Political, Civil and Religious indep end upence had a major impact on Bentham The substantially and happiness of the members, that is the legal age of the members of the state, is the great standard by which every thing relating to that state essential finally be determined. Bentham was to a fault heavily influenced by the philosopher David Hume. In 1798 Bentham wrote Principles of supranational Law where he argued that universal peace could only be obtained by initiatory achieving European Unity. He hoped that some for of Europea n Parliament would be able to enforce the liberty of the press, free trade, the abandonment of all colonies and a reduction in the money being spent on armaments. One of Benthams most famous works was constitutive(a) Code in 1830. Here Bentham shares m any of his ideas and beliefs on political democracy.Bentham argues that political reform should be dictated by the principal that the new system will invoke the happiness of the majority of the the great unwashed affected by it. He withal argues about universal suffrage, annual parliaments and vote by ballot. Bentham believed that there should be no king, no Ho intake of Lords and no established church. In Constitutional Code Bentham likewise includes his view that men and women should be able to vote. Bentham also addressed the problem of how government should be organized and suggests the continual oversight of the work of politicians and government officials.Perhaps Benthams most famously noteworthy for his work with Utilitar ianism and is noted as the founder of modern utilitarianism. His work move be found in his book The Principles of Morals and Legislation. Utilitarianism is defined as a theory in normative ethics holding that the proper course of action is the one that maximizes utility, specifically defined as maximize happiness and reducing suffering. Bentham examined the concept of punishment and when it should be used as far as whether a punishment will create more(prenominal) pleasure or wo(e) for smart set.He believed that the legislation of a society is vital to maintain the maximum pleasure and the minimum degree of pain for the greatest amount of community. Jeremy Bentham passed away on June 6th 1832 at the age of 84. Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant was born, lived and passed away in his home town of Konigsberg. He lived from 1724 to 1804. He canvas at the local university and later returned to tutor and lecture students. It wasnt until he met an English merchant by the name of Joseph G reen that Kant learned of David Hume and began to bring forth his ideas of morals and values.Kants Critique of Pure Reason (1781) is believed to many to be his greatest work. Kants was known mainly, however, for his moral code The Categorical Imperative. Immanuel Kant was a follower of Deontology, or duty ethics. Deontology is a theory holding that decisions should be made solely or primarily by considering ones duties and the rights of others. One of the most important implications of deontology is that a psyches demeanour can be wrong sluice if it results in the best achievable outcome. And, an act can be right even if it results in a hurtful outcome.In contrast to consequentialism, a philosophy infamous for its select that the ends justify the means, deontology insists that how people accomplish their goals is usually, or always, more important than what people accomplish. Kants moral philosophy is based on the categorical imperative, good will, and duty. According to the categorical imperative, it is an absolute necessity, a command that humans should dish outy with universalizable maxims to treat people as ends in themselves and exercise their will without any concerns about the consequences or conditions of their actions.This concept can also be convey in systematic terms by the two following formulations. The first form of the categorical imperative prescribes that we must act only consort to that maxim whereby we can at the analogous time will that it should puzzle a universal law. The number one states that we ought to treat humanity, whether in our own person or in the person of another, always at the same time as an end and never simply as a means. In order to obey the categorical imperative, people have to act on a maxim that can be universalized.For instance, Kant argues that a imposition promise is bad since it does not pass the universality test. Whenever a person makes a promise knowing that he will have to go away it, he violate s the first formulation of the categorical imperative. He intends to make use of another man merely as a means to an end which the latter does not likewise hold. In other words, Kant does not believe that lying promises are bad due to the fact that they generate bad consequences but because they result in a practical contradiction. According to him, people cant lie since they cant act for the results.Considering the second formulation of the categorical imperative, we have the need to have others working for us limited to some morality principles without treating them merely as a means. Kant believes that even though we have the ability to create our own ends, we cant use people for our own devise. If we interfere with others to pursue their end succession pursuing our own end, we violate their autonomy. We cant have duplicate standards for ourselves and for others. It is morally obligatory for us to respect others since people are logical agents.We must respect everyone in the e xact same way and treat them as autonomous. As rational beings, humans are systematically unify through common laws within the Kingdom of Ends. We belong to this kingdom as a member when we legislate in it universal laws while also being ourselves subject to these laws. According to Kant, everyone, no matter who they are, should be twain the legislator and the follower of moral laws. Overall, Kants theory emphasizes that no one is an expulsion to moral laws, that people must act on strongly held beliefs or duties that are not in their own interest, and that we should never use people.