Kantian ethics that is based upon the teachings of the philosopher Immanuel Kant suggests that the notion of “motive” is the most significant aspect of verifying what is ethical. Kant claimed that a moral action is one that is carried out of a “sense of duty.” The theory also posits that moral action is not founded upon feelings or pity, as well as is it is not motivated by the prospect of reward. Kant suggests that moral action is one based on a notion which can be expressed by phrase “This is what I ought to do.” For instance, according to Kant, assisting an old lady across the street because you feel sympathy for her is not a moral act, as well as assisting her in order to make people thing better of you is not a moral act also. What is believed to be moral though is helping an old lady because you are feeling yourself obliged to do that because of a sense of duty to help the elderly. Anyway, it is obvious that Kant’s approach gives little help for complicated situations, when there is confusion between several duties for instance. Moreover, Kant rejects emotions such as compassion and sympathy as unrelated to morality. Kant’s approach pays too little attention to actual critical analysis of the consequences of the actions being taken.
Natural law theory is one of the most significant theories in the philosophy of Classical Realism. Natural law or the law of nature is a theory that suggests the existence of a law whose subject matter is set by nature and that thus has authority everywhere. By natural law we mean the “unwritten law” that is more or less similar for everyone and everywhere. To be more accurate, natural law is the idea of a system of set moral values that is universal to all humanity and, as it is normally posited, is identifiable by human reason solely. Thus natural law is differentiated from positive law (which is man-made), the formal legal endorsements of a particular society, and is more about