Kant And Aristotle
Immanual Kant and Aristotle lived in very different time periods and yet they both hold some of the same theories towards morality. Kant held the fundamental principle respect for persons. While Aristotle paid closer attention to the human good. Aristotle held higher value to human beings achieving happiness. Kant, on the other hand, placed his highest value on treating people how another would want to be treated.
I think that Kant and Aristotle can be compared by the beneficence they both theorize about. Kant’s theory is to help and not harm people, and also to further their own ends. He also strongly believed in respecting their autonomy. This is similar to Aristotle’s view of achieving total well being. He thought that virtues, similar to characteristics, such as , loyalty, generosity, honesty and kindness are proper human excellences. He believed these virtues must be achieved to receive complete happiness. I think that Aristotle’s theory is based more on total welling being of oneself where as Kant places higher value on others needs.
Kant refers to the respect of persons to never using other people merely as a means to your own needs. This is demonstrated in unwilling people being used in experimental procedures. He believed that respect for persons is directly related to people being autonomous. He believed that people make their own choices and choices are the direct result of the best reason for acting in a certain way. He doesn’t state that we can never use a person for our own purposes. He believed that as long as these people are serving their own needs as well it was
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morally correct. I think this means as long as that person is there on free will and acting
voluntarily it is ok to use them as a means to meet our own needs. When forcing someone to do something or deceiving them is using them as a means to our own needs. To respect persons is to refrain from violating their autonomy or their free will of...
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