Kant and Mill Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Kant and Mill - Essay Example For instance, the gifts of nature such as talents of the mind, encompassing understanding, wit and judgment, as well as qualities of temperament, such as courage, resolution and perseverance are good and desirable for many purposes; however, Kant insists that their goodness is conditional for such things may be extremely evil and harmful without a good will (Baxley 8). Mill believes that something is right if it produces the greatest good for the greatest number (Driver 3). Simply, Mill promoted the general good, that is, tenets and social policy should always endeavor to contribute for the good of the society (MacKinnon 32). Mill believes that the morally best alternative is that which produces the greatest utility, where utility is described in terms of happiness or pleasure; moreover, Mill encourages individuals to do which produces the greatest form of happiness or pleasure for the greatest number of people (McKinnon 32). Mill stressed that something good is anything that is desirable; hence, the individual can only find out what is desirable by attempting to discover what is essentially desired but with this he aims for the higher pleasures in life (Driver 51). Neither Kant nor Mill thought that people usually self-consciously apply the criterion of right action by asking themselves the driving force of why they are doing something good (Jacobs 93). Moreover, they both acclaimed that individuals tend to act on the basis of dispositions to judge and appreciate situations in certain sorts of ways, and in that respect, they both established a role for the virtues (Jacobs 93). Kant and Mill both wrote about the significance of virtues; still, in their views of morality, what makes for a good quality is the fact that the agent acts in accordance with the basic principle (Jacobs 93). Jacobs highlighted that in both Kant’s and Mill’s