Immanuel Kant's philosophy frames the Universal Law Formation of the Categorical Imperative as a procedure for determining morality of actions. This method contains two vital components. First, one creates a maxim and decides whether or not the maxim can be used as a universal law for all rational beings. Then one determines whether all rational beings would want it to be the universal law. There are no exceptions if the maxim passes both components. A moral action according to Kant is if the issue at hand passes both parts of the Universal Law Formation of the Categorical Imperative. For example, if a doctor is confronted by a loved one of someone who has recently been a victim of homicide, and they ask if it was accidental, what should they say if it was not? According to Kant, they must decide which maxim to create and, based on the test, which action to perform. The maxim would be when answering the question regarding the nature of the death, one should always tell the truth.

The first step of the Universal Law Formation of the Categorical Imperative obligates that a maxim be universally applicable to all rational beings. The a

I agree with the morality, based on Kant's principles because it is strict in its application of moral conduct. There is no fluctuating in individual cases to determine whether an action is moral or not. An action is moral in itself, not because of its consequences, but because any rational being wills it to be a universal law. In addition an action is moral if it does not contradict itself. Regardless of what the family member does with the information or the loved one's death, the act of telling her the truth is a moral one. No one would argue that telling the truth (if she asks for it) is an immoral thing to do. Sometimes moral actions are make the situation difficult, and perhaps in this situation it would be easier to lie to the distraught family member, but it would still be an immoral. This picture of morality resonates with my common sense view of morality. If the surviving family member commits any immoral acts as a consequence (i.e. commits suicide), it still has no bearing on the morality of the original action in itself.

bove maxim passed the first stage. This is easily understandable because we can easily imagine a doctor answering truthfully to this confrontation. Therefore, this maxim is logical and everyone can abide by it. The next sensible step is to apply the second stage of the test.

Utilitarianism would differ on this point. Utilitarianism outlines that an action is moral if it increases the total happiness of society. A man named John Stuart Mill brought about utilitarianism. Utilitarianism says that the basic moral principle is that we ought to do whatever promotes the greatest happiness of the greatest number. Mill equated happiness with pleasure. But not all pleasures have equal value; higher pleasures of the mind are better than lower pleasures of the body. Morality is based on consequences. Telling a lie to the family member would increase his/her happiness and would constitute a moral action. Utilitarianism would also take into account the precedent set by the act of lying. Yet the analysis still rests on predicted consequence rather than on the action's intrinsic moral value. The morality of telling the lie is on a case by case basis. In some situations, it might be better to tell the truth, and according to utilitarianism that would then be the moral action. Unlike Kant's philosophy, one is not bound by a universal law.

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