Right or Wrong?

       Since I was a child, my parents                                                                                                        taught me right from wrong. They said never to steal for any circumstances whether we need it the money or not it is consider bad to do. My parent's teaching are still engraved in my head until this day like a tattoo. They say that if it is going to harm someone than you should not do it. My parents said that it is part of being an honest and loyal person.

                Last week in class we were discussion the different views of John Stuart Mill and Immanuel Kant. The thinking of these men got me thinking of the teachings of my parents. They also got me thinking of what is really considered right or wrong.  On one hand, John Stuart Mill believed in Utilitarianism. This is the belief of the Greatest Happiness. By this Mill, believe that if you do something for the greater good of society than it is okay to do it no matter what it is. He believes that the universal law is within the individual. On the other hand, we have Immanuel Kant view, which is Categorical Imperative. That is if you do something to harm someone even if the person is not an active member of society you are doing a bad. He believes that you need to follow the universal laws. He believes that a wrong no matter what your reasons are.

                Take for example murder in our heads we know that it is wrong to kill someone. So what makes some people kill others? Maybe they do it because they follow the thinking of John Stuart Mill, which is if it is for the better of society than its okay to do. So who decides if the death of someone in a society is for the greater good of a community? Well it all depends on the person who was murder. If the person was an active member of society than the person, who committed the act should be punish because he or she is not doing it for the community but for selfish reasons. However, if the person was just causing problems in the community than it is okay for him to die and the person who killed such person should not be punish. Now look at the examples I gave you above but in the view of Immanuel Kant. He believes that no matter if the person you killed was or was not an active member of society you should be punished for killing that person.

      I guess it all depends on what you as an individual thinks. If you believe as Mill, you should not go kill someone because you think that that person is no good for society because our government is not form with the thinking of Mill but with Kant's. Therefore, there is a chance that the court will find you guilty if you use Mill thinking as a defense. As for me, I follow Kant just because I was taught that since I was little and our government follows the same thinking. The point is that Kant and Mill are both great philosophers in their own way.