Work · Kant
Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
1785 · Three sections
The categorical imperative: act only on a rule you could will everyone to follow.
1785
Published
3
Sections
Categorical imperative
The supreme principle
Two kinds of "ought"
Kant’s whole ethics turns on this split. Most "shoulds" are conditional: they grip you only because you want something. A moral "should" is different in kind, binding unconditionally, which is why Kant thinks it can come only from reason and not from any desire, reward, or consequence.
The shape of the argument
Section I
From common moral thought to the good will: the only thing good without qualification, and the difference between acting from duty and merely in accordance with it.
Section II
From popular morality to the categorical imperative, with its formulas worked out: universal law, humanity as an end in itself, and the kingdom of ends.
Section III
From the moral law to freedom: morality is possible only if the will is autonomous, giving the law to itself rather than taking it from outside.
The cast
Kant — sets out to find the supreme principle of morality by pure reason, owing nothing to consequences
The good will — the one thing good without qualification: a will that acts from duty, not for reward
The categorical imperative — the unconditional command of reason, stated in several equivalent formulas
The shopkeeper — Kant’s worked case: honest only because honesty pays, so acting in accordance with duty but not from it
The famous bits
The good willSection I
Nothing in the world can be called good without qualification except a good will.
Duty versus inclinationSection I
The honest shopkeeper who is honest only for profit acts in accordance with duty, not from it.
The formula of universal lawSection II
Act only on a maxim you could will to become a universal law; the lying promise fails the test.
Humanity as an endSection II
Treat humanity, in yourself and others, always as an end and never merely as a means.
The kingdom of endsSection II
Act as a lawmaking member of a community in which every rational being is both author and subject of the law.
Autonomy and freedomSection III
A will bound by a law it gives itself is free; morality and freedom turn out to be the same discovery.