Grounding For Metaphysics And Moral By Immanuel Kant

Immanuel Kant was known as a German philosopher in the 18th century. During this time, he came up with the concept of categorical imperative; this concept is described as a moral law that applies to individuals and how they make decisions and approach situations. Kant’s concept is separate from personal motives or desires, it is an obligation that an individual will do something for their themselves and not what may come out of it in the future. In the book “Grounding for Metaphysics and Morals” Kant states, “A rational being must always regard himself as a legislator in a kingdom of ends rendered possible by the freedom of the will whether as member or as sovereign. The position of the latter can be maintained not merely through the maxims of his will but only if he is completely

Kant states “each of them should treat himself and all others never merely as means but always at the same time as an end in himself” (39). With this quote we can see that Kant’s point is that you need to treat others with the same respect you would treat yourself. So think about the actions before you do them to ensure they are not going to only be rewarding for yourself but also for others. Maxims are actions or guidelines on how a person should act that become a universal law. This universal law means that not only you need to be affected by the action but the whole world does. Pulling in a real life example, we can see that if an individual decides to make it a universal law to steal then that would make it okay for everyone to steal from each other. This being the case a moral person would think about the affect this has on the theft victim. It leaves them feeling hopeless and scared. When stealing from someone you are not considering the universal law. You are not pleasing the maximum number of people but you are hurting them especially the person stolen