Kantian ethics is deontological ethical theory. Kant rejects Consequentialist ethics for the following reasons:
1) According to Consequentialist ethics, no act is right or wrong in itself. The rightness or wrongness of a particular act is determined rather by the consequences of the act.
2) Consequentialism constitutes a denial of moral freedom according to Kant. According to Consequentialist ethics we are inclined toward the doing of a particular oral deed because we desire to produce good such as pleasure and happiness, which is in itself a restriction of moral freedom and prohibits us from the outset from acting responsibly.
3) Consequentialist ethics is contextual. In other words, Kant argued individual's contextual situations vary by culture, age, education, society, etc. Therefore, what one person determines as the "right" consequences, may differ from the determinations of another person.
4) Consequentialist ethics is overly optimistic regarding the human ability to determine moral consequences. As a result, how can we be held responsible for those consequences?
For these reasons, Kant rejected teleological or Consequentialist ethical theories and advocated a morality based upon one's moral duty as encapsulated in what Kant called "the categorical imperative."
