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The Originality of Kant’s Ethical Theory
The ethical theory of Immanuel Kant (1724 – 1804) is original in its attempt to draw previous philosophical moral theories together. This unification of seemingly incompatible ideas was not attempted before. The study of ethical behavior based on duties advanced through Immanuel Kant still influences modern deontological thought.

In developing his ideas, Kant initially embraced the ideas of Leibniz, a rationalist who believed in Divine Law and the natural power of a person’s own reason. Kant credits David Hume (1711-1776) for awakening him from this “dogmatic slumber”. However, Kant thought Hume’s empirical views were too extreme because they emphasized experience while Hume doubted the mind’s capacity to make judgments about that experience. On the other hand, Kant held that Liebniz credited the mind with too much ability to reason logically. According to Singer, Kant considered Hume’s reasoning insufficient to understand reality as well as Leibniz’s rationalist ideas about things beyond the senses, like God and virtue.
Neither did Kant agree with empiricist John Locke (1632 - 1704) who believed that experience is the only source of knowledge for the mind. Unlike Locke, Kant held that people are not blank slates but that human persons must use some part of their inborn intellectual sense to understand experience. According to Hinman, Kant proposed that the mind and the rest of reality are parts of a transcendent unity.
Kant saved some of his harshest criticism for the utilitarian theory of justice and the ideas of Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832). Contrary to Kant, Bentham asserted that human conduct can be considered good only when it is likely to attain the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. From a utilitarian point of view, the measure of good and evil of an action is calculated by the resulting pleasure or pain. Kant insisted that human beings should...