What Would Kant Think About Prostitution?

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What Would Kant Think About Prostitution? Presenting the issue of prostitution which is defined as “the practice or occupation of engaging in sexual activity with someone for payment” would not be living life in accordance to Kant’s beliefs. In Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Kant asserted that rational beings can never be treated merely as a means to an ends, they must always also be treated as an ends themselves. In prostitution men are using women as a mere means to their ends, to achieve sensual pleasure, but it is also true that women are so agreeing to be used as a means to achieve their ends, to earn money. Maxim All college students will prostitute themselves to pay for tuition. In a hypothetical world with the universalized maxim that, all college students have to prostitute themselves in order to pay for tuition it would be a contradiction in will. The world would be possible but willing it to be would be a contradiction in an individual’s own will. As Kant says, “This maxim lacks moral content, and partaking in it to further your education would not be fro...

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