Mill & Kant

Happiness, therefore, is not only not an individual's "right," it should not even matter to the individual operating with a good will and aiming at doing one's duty. Good will and duty are related in that such a will is necessary for the carrying out of one's duty. Duty refers to moral or ethical value in regard to an action. A single action may be done with selfishness or with duty in mind. To be done with duty in mind it must be the result of a good will, rather than as the result of a desire to be happy, to be praised, to gain some personal advantage.

The individual who takes an action as a result of duty is not concerned with the happiness that may or may not result from that action, but rather is concerned only with the "principle of the will"(189) which is the foundation of that action.

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unk of meat and a chunk of chocolate. To eliminate that criticism, Mill introduces the division of pleasures. However, a new problem is introduced. Mill wants to elevate the nature of human choice and pleasure by this division of pleasures. He wants to make humans of a higher order than pigs. But in doing so, he says that only those humans who have experienced and enjoyed all pleasures, from highest to lowest, are qualified to say whether such a division of pleasures is applicable and significant. By doing this, he is taking away from humanity the higher nature he just granted it---he is saying that those who choose lower pleasures are less human, in effect, than those---such as himself---who are qualified to determine for all humanity what are the superior pleasures. 5. Mill and Kant would give very different answers to the question about making a promise in distress with no intention of keeping that promise. Kant would never morally approve of such a false promise, even in distress, while Mill would allow such a false promise if the result were positive according to the utilitarian standard of bringing about the "greatest happiness of the greatest number" (202). On one hand, one can examine the philosophy of utilitarianism
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Approximate Word count = 1639
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

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