Immanuel Kant: Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals

question 19

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Immanuel Kant: Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals
Kant argues that moral philosophy should proceed in an a priori fashion, without consulting experience. To develop a theory along these lines, Kant begins by examining the moral concepts at the heart of ordinary moral thought. According to Kant, the only thing that can be said to be good without qualification-that is, good in all circumstances-is the good will. To have a good will requires that one act not in conformity with one's duty, but for the sake of duty. Only when actions are performed for the sake of duty, Kant says, do they have any true moral worth.
But what is our moral duty? Kant claims that for a requirement to be genuinely moral, it must be a categorical imperative. Whereas hypothetical imperatives are simply claims about which means are suitable to satisfying our desires, Kant asserts that moral requirements apply to us independently of any end we happen to endorse. Furthermore, according to Kant, all of our moral duties derive from one single categorical imperative, which is the supreme principle of morality. Kant formulates this principle in several ways. According to the formula of universal law, we must "Act only on that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law." A maxim, in Kant's sense, is the subjective principle on which one acts in a given circumstance. According to the formula of universal law, we test the permissibility of our actions by asking whether we could consistently will that everyone act on our maxim.
The second formulation of the categorical imperative that Kant provides is the formula of humanity, which states, "Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in any other person, always at the same time as an end, never merely as a means." This formulation illustrates Kant's view that every human being has dignity, and therefore must be treated with respect.
Kant insists that both formulations of the categorical imperative are equivalent. By focusing on the formal constraints of reason, the formula of universal law captures the intuitive thought: how would you feel if everyone did that? By focusing on the value of reason, the formula of humanity captures the thought that rational agency must respect, by preserving or promoting, the free exercise of everyone's rational agency.
-Kant argues that there is a single supreme principle of morality.

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