Essay On Moral Right And Wrong

As human beings, we make an attempt to be good people. We follow some moral code in which we try to distinguish what the right thing to do is. Unfortunately, we are species of fault, and we are plagued with emotions and feelings that often influence our decisions. In order to combat this outside influence, two philosophers came up with a system of determining what is morally right and wrong. These two philosophers believed that there could be an objective way for humans to determine the status of their decisions, a way that could be essentially applied to any situation and logically reveal the morally correct answer. Each philosopher was able to come up with an objective method, but each method is completely different from the other
Kant 's

He believes in what is known as the greatest happiness principle, which basically determines moral rightness and moral wrongness on the basis of how much happiness it generates. This does not just apply to quantity. It 's not a case where the moral rightness is determined on making the most people. It 's where the moral rightness depends on the sheer amount of happiness is generated. So let 's examine the previous example. Were I to pull the plug, I would give a child a new chance at life. The amount of happiness exhibited would be immense for him and his family. At face value, the morally correct answer would be to pull the plug. However, is the child the only one with a family? Is his happiness the only one that matters? What if the man in the coma had a waiting room full of people praying that he pulls through? Would his life not being sacrificed mean equally as much to them as the child’s family? In a situation like this, many factors must be taken into consideration. It could just be that the man’s family would gladly donate his organs because they understand that his chances of waking up are so slim, and that he would have wished to also save the child’s life. Whether it be a no-brainer or one of conflict on which outcome generates the most happiness, Mill uses the consequences of actions in order to determine the morally right answer. A simple way to understand this concept is to think of it like an