Sunday, April 7, 2013

Comparisons of Aristotle, Kant and Mill



Philosophers that we have study so far have different views:  Aristotle represents Virtue Ethics, Kant represents Duty Ethics and now Mills representing Utilitarianism.  All three authors regard morality as the search for the highest good. But it seems they disagree about the definition of the highest good. For Aristotle , it is happiness understood as self sufficient with fulfillment of all desires, defined by activity in agreement with virtue , for Kant it is a good will, defined by duty and for Mill it is happiness understood as pleasure and absence of pain.

I find it intriguing the comparison of their moral theories. For Aristotle one acts for pleasure and for the sake of nobility “Happiness is at once the best, noblest and most pleasant thing.” and for Kant fulfilling one’s duty, one has to do one’s duty for the sake of duty or the law; and for Mill, one has to do the duty of increasing the amount of happiness of the largest number of people.

As I continue reading Mill’s Utilitarianism more and more comparisons of moral theories come about, what have you observed?

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