Ethical Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ethical Theories - Essay Example This philosophy formed a basis for Liberalism and Libertarianism. The opponents say that it’s impossible to determine true parameters for measuring and comparing human happiness among people. While the pleasure of the sadist is viewed as having equal value to the pleasure of the altruist, the suffering of others would offset any derived pleasure for the sadist; it’s superficial, temporary. It takes awhile to evaluate the pros and cons of an action so that while we can’t know the total picture immediately, enough of the consequences of an action are usually known so as to avoid the most pain for most people. This approach only views the end results of actions as opposed to the original intentions. Kantianism was developed by Immanuel Kant in the 1700s. He is considered one of the forefathers of philosophy of the mind and epistemology. His predecessors, Gottfried Leibniz and Christian Wolf, along with Rene Descartes were attempting to find a rational way to approac h beliefs about God without all the emotionalism of religion. He asserts that people act on their beliefs which are deeply held underlying principles; human beings are basically rational and the world is full of uncontrollable events, therefore rationality is the ultimate good. Rational beliefs should be universalized. It is the original intention of an action that determines its value, as acts themselves should be performed for their inherent value, not for the consequences they produce. His work is divided into four categories: 1) pure theoretical reason, 2) practical reason and ethics, 3) aesthetics and teology, and 4) rational religion. The problem with Kantianism is that there is no single rule that is applicable in every situation to characterize an action; it doesn’t have a way to resolve conflicts between rules. There is no room for aberrancy with regards to moral laws. It didn’t take into consideration the feelings of the human, only the rational thought proce sses. Social Contract Theory has been around since Socrates, although Thomas Hobbs is considered the modern founder in the middle 1600s. His proponents, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, later expounded on his theory to formulate much broader politically applicable social theories. In essence, it is the belief that individuals in their natural state come together to form a mutually consensual agreement where they agree to limit themselves and their behavior to that which is beneficial to the governance of all. We are self-interested beings, which in our natural state of being, are governed only by our own sense of personal power and conscience. It formed a theory of why we need government in order to remain civilized, the people give up some rights in order to benefit from a greater social order. Opponents assert that while it outlines our rights and obligations as people in the whole community of mankind, it doesn’t allow for explaining the full human experience in terms of psychology and motivation. It depends on the greater consensus of the group to determine how the whole group will be treated without respect for individuality or human considerations. If the majority of the group is consensual with a particular limit of some sort, then the whole society is bound by that same limit. It violates contractual theory in that contracts require all interested parties to agree to the contract, not just the majority. Divine Command Theory has been a