Immanuel Kant On Moral Law

Immanuel Kant was a philosopher who studied Deontology. Kant talks about Moral Law, and says that it is a moral duty that is an obligation that binds all moral means with no exceptions. He believes that living by moral law is you giving yourself freedom. This does not mean you should do whatever you want; this is you choosing to freely obey the law. Basically, he is saying that you should choose to do the right thing no matter what. If you choose to do the right thing out of selfish desires, you are not free. You can act out of temptation and fear, but those do not justify your actions. He believes that if you have respect for the Moral Law, that you will ultimately make decisions that you would otherwise not consider. The only way for a person

He says the only thing that cannot be used to obtain evil is doing the right thing. This ties in with the “good will” point. We are supposed to do the right thing merely because it is the right thing to do, not because we expect a reward in return. It goes beyond just doing it because it is what you are supposed to do. We should do the right thing as if it is the law, and continue doing that out of respect. We should not act out of desire or fear of the outcome. Even if you act out of pure joy, this does not count, according to Kant. For example, if you are a store owner and you decided not to overcharge your customers strictly because you are a nice person, it does not count. You have to think about your actions and act strictly for the sake of the law. He compares someone who does not follow the law, to someone who has a natural inclination to do

You have to ask yourself if you would be okay with your own maxim becoming a law, as Kant did. I would ask the person arguing if they thought it was okay to lie, cheat, or steal at anyone’s own convenience? No, it does not make it okay to do these things just because it is beneficial to whomever in that moment. And that is what Kant is trying to say. Our will to do the right thing should be so easy, that you don’t even have to look at it as a law if you don’t want to. Kant is not asking you to follow any specific rule, he is just asking that you follow something and not make an exception for yourself when it comes to doing the right thing. It is your duty to not only follow this “law” but to have respect for it. For the ones who question this by asking, “How do I know someone is doing the right thing out of duty?” or “What if they are doing it because they are afraid of the consequences?”, though there is no way for us to know other people’s reasoning’s, we are merely focusing on what we should do, not what we do. To me, by questioning this theory, you are basically making an excuse for yourself, which is exactly what Kant says will happen to the ones who do not follow this. Kant is not trying to tell you what to do, he just sheds light on the fact that in our hearts, we should already know what to do. These laws allow you to live in freedom, and give you piece of