Essay On John Stuart Mill Utilitarianism

1. According to Kant, we should never treat anyone merely as a means. Therefore we should not lie to someone even if that means that we may prevent 5 other people from being used as mere means. This is because the categorical imperative is principle-based and not utilitarian. The categorical imperative states that you should “act only on the maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law”. Lying is bad and can never be universalized because if it were, there would be no point in being honest. However this may be used as an objection to Kant because some people believe lying is ok for certain situations. For example with the Nazi situation, people believe that lying to Nazi officers about not having anyone
As he states “ The corollaries from the principle of utility, like the precepts of every practical art, admit of indefinite improvement, and, in a progressive state of human minds, their improvement is perpetually going on. But to consider the rules of morality as improvable is one thing; to pass over the intermediate generalization entirely and endeavor to test each individual action directly by the first principle is another.”(Mill, 1863) In other words, if we simply choose the action that provides the most happiness to people involved in a certain situation, and apply this mentality to whatever situation we are in, this will bring the most happiness. This doesn’t necessarily mean we have to give up our own happiness, because if everyone did this, none of us would be happy. Therefore, sacrificing our own happiness would only be good if it produced more happiness overall. Just as Mill, I do not believe utilitarianism is too demanding. Utilitarianism is simply a theory and just as any theory there are exceptions to it. We should simply try our best to do acts that brings the most happiness to those around us, when reasonably possible and without sacrificing our own