Happiness the Pursuit of Happiness Essay

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" This could not even be termed a desire to do good, as then it would be fulfilling someone's desire to do a good deed, and would therefore have a selfish motive. Kant is one of the very few that attempted to divorce happiness from morality; even though lying to the mass murderer would save many lives, Kant believed that lying was wrong, and therefore one could not lie even in such a situation and remain moral. Unhappy or dead, yes, but definitely not moral.

Both men attempt to justify their ethical systems, not surprisingly, with completey contradictory suppositions. Kant supposes that there is such a thing as universal morality, which can be recognized by all and therefore adhered to in all situations. Mill believed that no such universal morality existed, but rather that society was based on a general consensus of treating everyone with mutual respect and liberty, creating a situation where most people could and would be mostly happy. He realized that what defined happiness and what was deemed permissible would change over time, and utilitarianism accounts for this in a way that Kant's theory does not, allowing for modification as people's definitions of usefulness -- and happiness -- change.

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The diversity of the modern world definitely makes me more a proponent of Mill's Utilitarianism than Kant's categorical imperatives. People of different cultures have different systems of morality, and different ways of judging the correctness of an action. Not all of these systems are based on anything like utilitarianism, of course, but this ethical system allows for a more diverse culture to exist in the first place, whereas the moral absolutism theorized by Kant leaves no room for any outside opinions or adjustment -- an act is either moral or it is not, regardless of perspective or belief. Though Kant most likely did not mean his theory to be taken in such an intolerant way (and in the 1700s he could hardly be blamed for a very Eurocentric attitude), it simply does not serve the time we live in very well at all. The guiding principle of Mill's philosophy is "live and let live." This is the best way to make (almost) everyone happy, and is the most all-encompassing yet still rigid ethical system around......

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