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id="toc-Metaphysics_of_morals" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Metaphysics_of_morals"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.1</span> <span>Metaphysics of morals</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Metaphysics_of_morals-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Pure_ethics" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Pure_ethics"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.2</span> <span>Pure ethics</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Pure_ethics-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Section_One" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Section_One"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>Section One</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Section_One-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Section One subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Section_One-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-The_Good_Will" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#The_Good_Will"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.1</span> <span>The Good Will</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-The_Good_Will-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-The_Teleological_Argument" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#The_Teleological_Argument"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2</span> <span>The Teleological Argument</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-The_Teleological_Argument-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-The_Three_Propositions_Regarding_Duty" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#The_Three_Propositions_Regarding_Duty"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.3</span> <span>The Three Propositions Regarding Duty</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-The_Three_Propositions_Regarding_Duty-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-First_proposition" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#First_proposition"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.3.1</span> <span>First proposition</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-First_proposition-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Second_proposition" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Second_proposition"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.3.2</span> <span>Second proposition</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Second_proposition-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Third_proposition" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Third_proposition"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.3.3</span> <span>Third proposition</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Third_proposition-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Categorical_Imperative:_Universality" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Categorical_Imperative:_Universality"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.4</span> <span>Categorical Imperative: Universality</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Categorical_Imperative:_Universality-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Section_Two" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Section_Two"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>Section Two</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Section_Two-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Section Two subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Section_Two-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Imperatives" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Imperatives"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.1</span> <span>Imperatives</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Imperatives-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Categorical_Imperative:_Laws_of_nature" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Categorical_Imperative:_Laws_of_nature"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.2</span> <span>Categorical Imperative: Laws of nature</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Categorical_Imperative:_Laws_of_nature-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-The_Formula_of_the_Universal_Law_of_Nature" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#The_Formula_of_the_Universal_Law_of_Nature"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.3</span> <span>The Formula of the Universal Law of Nature</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-The_Formula_of_the_Universal_Law_of_Nature-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Contradiction_in_conception" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Contradiction_in_conception"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.3.1</span> <span>Contradiction in conception</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Contradiction_in_conception-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Contradiction_in_willing" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Contradiction_in_willing"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.3.2</span> <span>Contradiction in willing</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Contradiction_in_willing-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-The_Formula_of_Humanity" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#The_Formula_of_Humanity"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.4</span> <span>The Formula of Humanity</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-The_Formula_of_Humanity-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-The_Formula_of_Autonomy_and_the_Kingdom_of_Ends" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#The_Formula_of_Autonomy_and_the_Kingdom_of_Ends"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.5</span> <span>The Formula of Autonomy and the Kingdom of Ends</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-The_Formula_of_Autonomy_and_the_Kingdom_of_Ends-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Kingdom_of_ends" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Kingdom_of_ends"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.5.1</span> <span>Kingdom of ends</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Kingdom_of_ends-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Section_Three" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Section_Three"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>Section Three</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Section_Three-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Section Three subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Section_Three-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Freedom_and_Willing" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Freedom_and_Willing"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.1</span> <span>Freedom and Willing</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Freedom_and_Willing-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Gods-eye_and_human_perspective" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Gods-eye_and_human_perspective"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.1.1</span> <span>Gods-eye and human perspective</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Gods-eye_and_human_perspective-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Occupying_Two_Worlds" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Occupying_Two_Worlds"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.2</span> <span>Occupying Two Worlds</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Occupying_Two_Worlds-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Critical_reaction" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Critical_reaction"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>Critical reaction</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Critical_reaction-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-English_editions_and_translations" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#English_editions_and_translations"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>English editions and translations</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-English_editions_and_translations-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Notes" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Notes"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">8</span> <span>Notes</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Notes-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-External_links" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#External_links"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">9</span> <span>External links</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-External_links-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" title="Table of Contents" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><i>Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals</i></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article 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class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ca mw-list-item"><a href="https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fonamentaci%C3%B3_de_la_metaf%C3%ADsica_dels_costums" title="Fonamentació de la metafísica dels costums – Catalan" lang="ca" hreflang="ca" data-title="Fonamentació de la metafísica dels costums" data-language-autonym="Català" data-language-local-name="Catalan" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Català</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grundlegung_zur_Metaphysik_der_Sitten" title="Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Deutsch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-et mw-list-item"><a href="https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alusepanek_kommete_metaf%C3%BC%C3%BCsikale" title="Alusepanek kommete metafüüsikale – Estonian" lang="et" hreflang="et" data-title="Alusepanek kommete metafüüsikale" data-language-autonym="Eesti" data-language-local-name="Estonian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Eesti</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-el mw-list-item"><a href="https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%A4%CE%B1_%CE%B8%CE%B5%CE%BC%CE%AD%CE%BB%CE%B9%CE%B1_%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%82_%CE%BC%CE%B5%CF%84%CE%B1%CF%86%CF%85%CF%83%CE%B9%CE%BA%CE%AE%CF%82_%CF%84%CF%89%CE%BD_%CE%B7%CE%B8%CF%8E%CE%BD" title="Τα θεμέλια της μεταφυσικής των ηθών – Greek" lang="el" hreflang="el" data-title="Τα θεμέλια της μεταφυσικής των ηθών" data-language-autonym="Ελληνικά" data-language-local-name="Greek" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Ελληνικά</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamentaci%C3%B3n_de_la_metaf%C3%ADsica_de_las_costumbres" title="Fundamentación de la metafísica de las costumbres – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Fundamentación de la metafísica de las costumbres" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fa mw-list-item"><a href="https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A8%D9%86%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%AF_%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B7%D8%A8%DB%8C%D8%B9%D9%87_%D8%A7%D8%AE%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%82" title="بنیاد مابعدالطبیعه اخلاق – Persian" lang="fa" hreflang="fa" data-title="بنیاد مابعدالطبیعه اخلاق" data-language-autonym="فارسی" data-language-local-name="Persian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>فارسی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fondements_de_la_m%C3%A9taphysique_des_m%C5%93urs" title="Fondements de la métaphysique des mœurs – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Fondements de la métaphysique des mœurs" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ko mw-list-item"><a href="https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%9C%A4%EB%A6%AC%ED%98%95%EC%9D%B4%EC%83%81%ED%95%99_%EC%A0%95%EC%B4%88" title="윤리형이상학 정초 – Korean" lang="ko" hreflang="ko" data-title="윤리형이상학 정초" data-language-autonym="한국어" data-language-local-name="Korean" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>한국어</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fondazione_della_metafisica_dei_costumi" title="Fondazione della metafisica dei costumi – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="Fondazione della metafisica dei costumi" data-language-autonym="Italiano" data-language-local-name="Italian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Italiano</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-he mw-list-item"><a href="https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%94%D7%A0%D7%97%D7%AA_%D7%99%D7%A1%D7%95%D7%93_%D7%9C%D7%9E%D7%98%D7%A4%D7%99%D7%96%D7%99%D7%A7%D7%94_%D7%A9%D7%9C_%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%93%D7%95%D7%AA" title="הנחת יסוד למטפיזיקה של המידות – Hebrew" lang="he" hreflang="he" data-title="הנחת יסוד למטפיזיקה של המידות" data-language-autonym="עברית" data-language-local-name="Hebrew" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>עברית</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-la mw-list-item"><a href="https://la.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamentum_metaphysicae_moralitatis" title="Fundamentum metaphysicae moralitatis – Latin" lang="la" hreflang="la" data-title="Fundamentum metaphysicae moralitatis" data-language-autonym="Latina" data-language-local-name="Latin" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Latina</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ja mw-list-item"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%BA%E5%80%AB%E3%81%AE%E5%BD%A2%E8%80%8C%E4%B8%8A%E5%AD%A6%E3%81%AE%E5%9F%BA%E7%A4%8E%E3%81%A5%E3%81%91" title="人倫の形而上学の基礎づけ – Japanese" lang="ja" hreflang="ja" data-title="人倫の形而上学の基礎づけ" data-language-autonym="日本語" data-language-local-name="Japanese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>日本語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-no mw-list-item"><a href="https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grunnlegging_av_moralens_metafysikk" title="Grunnlegging av moralens metafysikk – Norwegian Bokmål" lang="nb" hreflang="nb" data-title="Grunnlegging av moralens metafysikk" data-language-autonym="Norsk bokmål" data-language-local-name="Norwegian Bokmål" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Norsk bokmål</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ro mw-list-item"><a href="https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%8Entemeierea_metafizicii_moravurilor" title="Întemeierea metafizicii moravurilor – Romanian" lang="ro" hreflang="ro" 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Please help <a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit">improve this article</a> by <a href="/wiki/Help:Referencing_for_beginners" title="Help:Referencing for beginners">introducing citations to additional sources</a>.<br /><small><span class="plainlinks"><i>Find sources:</i> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?as_eq=wikipedia&q=%22Groundwork+of+the+Metaphysics+of+Morals%22">"Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals"</a> – <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?tbm=nws&q=%22Groundwork+of+the+Metaphysics+of+Morals%22+-wikipedia&tbs=ar:1">news</a> <b>·</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?&q=%22Groundwork+of+the+Metaphysics+of+Morals%22&tbs=bkt:s&tbm=bks">newspapers</a> <b>·</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" 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.infobox-full-data:not(.notheme)>div:not(.notheme)[style]{background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme) div:not(.notheme){background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media(min-width:640px){body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table{display:table!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>caption{display:table-caption!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>tbody{display:table-row-group}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table tr{display:table-row!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table th,body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table td{padding-left:inherit;padding-right:inherit}}</style><table class="infobox vcard"><caption class="infobox-title" style="font-size:125%; font-style:italic; padding-bottom:0.2em;">Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals <span class="Z3988" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Groundwork+of+the+Metaphysics+of+Morals&rft.author=%5B%5BImmanuel+Kant%5D%5D&rft.date=1785"></span></caption><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><span class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Frameless"><a href="/wiki/File:Kant_Groundwork_Title.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Kant_Groundwork_Title.jpg/220px-Kant_Groundwork_Title.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="383" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Kant_Groundwork_Title.jpg/330px-Kant_Groundwork_Title.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Kant_Groundwork_Title.jpg/440px-Kant_Groundwork_Title.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1900" data-file-height="3312" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Author</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Immanuel_Kant" title="Immanuel Kant">Immanuel Kant</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Original title</th><td class="infobox-data"><span title="German-language text"><i lang="de">Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten</i></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Publication date</div></th><td class="infobox-data">1785</td></tr></tbody></table><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol 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.mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-list-title,html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{background:transparent!important}html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle a{color:var(--color-progressive)!important}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .sidebar{display:none!important}}</style><table class="sidebar sidebar-collapse nomobile nowraplinks plainlist"><tbody><tr><td class="sidebar-pretitle">Part of <a href="/wiki/Category:Immanuel_Kant" title="Category:Immanuel Kant">a series</a> on</td></tr><tr><th class="sidebar-title-with-pretitle"><a href="/wiki/Immanuel_Kant" title="Immanuel Kant">Immanuel Kant</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-image" style="padding-bottom:0.8em;"><span class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Frameless"><a href="/wiki/File:Immanuel_Kant_portrait_c1790.jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="Immanuel Kant"><img alt="Immanuel Kant" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/Immanuel_Kant_portrait_c1790.jpg/200px-Immanuel_Kant_portrait_c1790.jpg" decoding="async" width="200" height="223" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/Immanuel_Kant_portrait_c1790.jpg/300px-Immanuel_Kant_portrait_c1790.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/Immanuel_Kant_portrait_c1790.jpg/400px-Immanuel_Kant_portrait_c1790.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1617" data-file-height="1802" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content" style="padding:0.2em 0.2em 0.7em;"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:none;text-align:center;border-bottom:1px solid #cee0f2;;color: var(--color-base)">Major works</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="padding-left:1.25em;padding-right:1.25em;border-bottom:1px solid #cee0f2;"> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Critique_of_Pure_Reason" title="Critique of Pure Reason">Critique of Pure Reason</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Prolegomena_to_Any_Future_Metaphysics" title="Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics">Prolegomena to<wbr /> Any Future Metaphysics</a></i></li> <li>"<a href="/wiki/What_Is_Enlightenment%3F" title="What Is Enlightenment?">Answering the<wbr /> Question: What Is Enlightenment?</a>"</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysic_of_Morals" class="mw-redirect" title="Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals">Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Critique_of_Practical_Reason" title="Critique of Practical Reason">Critique of Practical Reason</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Critique_of_Judgment" title="Critique of Judgment">Critique of Judgment</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Religion_within_the_Bounds_of_Bare_Reason" title="Religion within the Bounds of Bare Reason">Religion within the Bounds of Bare Reason</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Perpetual_Peace:_A_Philosophical_Sketch" title="Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch">Perpetual Peace</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/The_Metaphysics_of_Morals" class="mw-redirect" title="The Metaphysics of Morals">The Metaphysics of Morals</a></i></li> <li>"<a href="/wiki/On_a_Supposed_Right_to_Tell_Lies_from_Benevolent_Motives" title="On a Supposed Right to Tell Lies from Benevolent Motives">On a Supposed Right to Tell Lies from<wbr /> Benevolent Motives</a>"</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Opus_Postumum" title="Opus Postumum">Opus Postumum</a></i></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content" style="padding:0.2em 0.2em 0.7em;"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed hlist"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:none;text-align:center;border-bottom:1px solid #cee0f2;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Kantianism" title="Kantianism">Kantianism</a> • <a href="/wiki/Kantian_ethics" title="Kantian ethics">Kantian ethics</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="padding-left:1.25em;padding-right:1.25em;border-bottom:1px solid #cee0f2;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Transcendental_idealism" title="Transcendental idealism">Transcendental idealism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Critical_philosophy" title="Critical philosophy">Critical philosophy</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Sapere_aude" title="Sapere aude">Sapere aude</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Thing-in-itself" title="Thing-in-itself">Thing-in-itself</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Schema_(Kant)" title="Schema (Kant)">Schema</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/A_priori_and_a_posteriori" title="A priori and a posteriori"><i>A priori</i> and <i>a posteriori</i></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Analytic%E2%80%93synthetic_distinction" title="Analytic–synthetic distinction">Analytic–synthetic distinction</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Noumenon" title="Noumenon">Noumenon</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Category_(Kant)" title="Category (Kant)">Category</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Categorical_imperative" title="Categorical imperative">Categorical imperative</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hypothetical_imperative" title="Hypothetical imperative">Hypothetical imperative</a></li> <li>"<a href="/wiki/Kingdom_of_Ends" title="Kingdom of Ends">Kingdom of Ends</a>"</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Political_philosophy_of_Immanuel_Kant" title="Political philosophy of Immanuel Kant">Political philosophy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kant%27s_teleology" title="Kant's teleology">Teleology</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content" style="padding:0.2em 0.2em 0.7em;"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed hlist"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:none;text-align:center;border-bottom:1px solid #cee0f2;;color: var(--color-base)">People</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="padding-left:1.25em;padding-right:1.25em;border-bottom:1px solid #cee0f2;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Gottlieb_Fichte" title="Johann Gottlieb Fichte">J. G. Fichte</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Georg_Wilhelm_Friedrich_Hegel" title="Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel">G. W. F. Hegel</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/David_Hume" title="David Hume">David Hume</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Friedrich_Heinrich_Jacobi" title="Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi">F. H. Jacobi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Arthur_Schopenhauer" title="Arthur Schopenhauer">Arthur Schopenhauer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Baruch_Spinoza" title="Baruch Spinoza">Baruch Spinoza</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content" style="padding:0.2em 0.2em 0.7em;"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed hlist"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:none;text-align:center;border-bottom:1px solid #cee0f2;;color: var(--color-base)">Related topics</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="padding-left:1.25em;padding-right:1.25em;border-bottom:1px solid #cee0f2;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/German_idealism" title="German idealism">German idealism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Neo-Kantianism" title="Neo-Kantianism">Neo-Kantianism</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-below" style="border:none;"> <a href="/wiki/Category:Immanuel_Kant" title="Category:Immanuel Kant">Category</a> • <span class="nowrap"><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/Socrates.png/10px-Socrates.png" decoding="async" width="10" height="16" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/Socrates.png/15px-Socrates.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/Socrates.png/21px-Socrates.png 2x" data-file-width="326" data-file-height="500" /></span></span> </span><a href="/wiki/Portal:Philosophy" title="Portal:Philosophy">Philosophy portal</a></td></tr></tbody></table> <p><i><b>Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals</b></i> (1785; <a href="/wiki/German_language" title="German language">German</a>: <i lang="de">Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten</i>; also known as the <i><b>Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals</b></i>, <i><b>Grounding of the Metaphysics of Morals</b></i>, and the <i><b>Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals</b></i>) is the first of <a href="/wiki/Immanuel_Kant" title="Immanuel Kant">Immanuel Kant</a>'s mature <a href="/wiki/Kantian_ethics" title="Kantian ethics">works on moral philosophy</a> and the first of his trilogy of major works on ethics alongside the <i><a href="/wiki/Critique_of_Practical_Reason" title="Critique of Practical Reason">Critique of Practical Reason</a></i> and <i><a href="/wiki/The_Metaphysics_of_Morals" class="mw-redirect" title="The Metaphysics of Morals">The Metaphysics of Morals</a></i>. It remains one of the most influential in the field. Kant conceives his investigation as a work of foundational <a href="/wiki/Ethics" title="Ethics">ethics</a>—one that clears the ground for future research by explaining the core concepts and principles of moral theory, and showing that they are <a href="/wiki/Normative_ethics" title="Normative ethics">normative</a> for <a href="/wiki/Rational_agent" title="Rational agent">rational agents</a>. </p><p>Kant proposes to lay bare the fundamental principle of <a href="/wiki/Morality" title="Morality">morality</a> and show that it applies to us. Central to the work is the role of what Kant refers to as the <i><a href="/wiki/Categorical_imperative" title="Categorical imperative">categorical imperative</a></i>, which states that one must act only according to maxims which one could will to become a universal law. Kant argues that the rightness of an action is determined by the principle that a person chooses to act upon. This stands in stark contrast to the <a href="/wiki/Moral_sense_theory" title="Moral sense theory">moral sense theories</a> and <a href="/wiki/Teleological_ethics" class="mw-redirect" title="Teleological ethics">teleological moral theories</a> that dominated moral philosophy at the time of Kant's career. </p><p>The <i>Groundwork</i> is broken into a <a href="/wiki/Preface" title="Preface">preface</a>, followed by three sections. Kant begins from common-sense moral reason and shows by analysis the supreme moral law that must be its principle. He then argues that the supreme moral law in fact obligates us. The book is famously difficult,<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (September 2020)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> and it is partly because of this that Kant later, in 1788, decided to publish the <i>Critique of Practical Reason</i>.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (January 2022)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Preface">Preface</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Preface"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In the preface to the <i>Groundwork</i>, motivating the need for pure moral philosophy, Kant makes some preliminary remarks to situate his project and explain his <a href="/wiki/Methodology" title="Methodology">method of investigation</a>. </p><p>Kant opens the preface with an affirmation of the <a href="/wiki/Ancient_Greek_philosophy" title="Ancient Greek philosophy">Ancient Greek</a> idea of a threefold division of philosophy into <a href="/wiki/Logic" title="Logic">logic</a>, <a href="/wiki/Physics" title="Physics">physics</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Ethics" title="Ethics">ethics</a>. </p><p><b>Logic</b> is purely formal—it deals only with the form of thought itself, not with any particular objects. Physics and ethics, on the other hand, deal with particular objects: <b>physics</b> is concerned with the laws of nature, <b>ethics</b> with the laws of freedom. Additionally, logic is an <i><a href="/wiki/A_priori_and_a_posteriori" title="A priori and a posteriori">a priori</a></i> discipline, i.e., <a href="/wiki/Logical_truth" title="Logical truth">logical truths</a> do not depend on any particular experience for their justification. By contrast, physics and ethics are mixed disciplines, containing <a href="/wiki/Empirical_evidence" title="Empirical evidence">empirical</a> and non-empirical parts. The empirical part of physics deals with <a href="/wiki/Contingency_(philosophy)" title="Contingency (philosophy)">contingently true</a> phenomena, like what kind of physical entities there are and the relations in which they stand; the non-empirical part deals with fundamental concepts like space, time, and matter. Similarly, ethics contains an empirical part, which deals with the question of what—given the contingencies of human nature—tends to promote <a href="/wiki/Human_welfare" class="mw-redirect" title="Human welfare">human welfare</a>, and a non-empirical part, which is concerned with an <i>a priori</i> investigation into the nature and substance of morality. </p><p>Because it is <i>a priori</i>, Kant calls this latter, non-empirical part of ethics <i>metaphysics of morals</i>. It corresponds to the non-empirical part of physics, which Kant calls <i>metaphysics of nature</i>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Metaphysics_of_morals">Metaphysics of morals</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Metaphysics of morals"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Kant proceeds to motivate the need for the special sort of inquiry he calls a <i>metaphysics of morals</i>: “That there must be such a philosophy is evident from the common idea of duty and of moral laws.” The moral law must “carry with it absolute necessity.”<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>i<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The content and the bindingness of the moral law, in other words, do not vary according to the particularities of agents or their circumstances. Given that the moral law, if it exists, is universal and necessary, the only appropriate means to investigate it is through <i><a href="/wiki/A_priori_knowledge" class="mw-redirect" title="A priori knowledge">a priori</a></i> rational reflection. Thus, a correct theoretical understanding of morality requires a metaphysics of morals. Kant believes that, until we have completed this sort of investigation, “morals themselves are liable to all kinds of corruption” because the “guide and supreme norm for correctly estimating them are missing.” A fully specified account of the moral law will guard against the errors and <a href="/wiki/Rationalization_(sociology)" title="Rationalization (sociology)">rationalization</a> to which human moral reasoning is prone.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>ii<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The search for the supreme principle of morality—the antidote to confusion in the moral sphere—will occupy Kant for the first two chapters of the <i>Groundwork</i>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Pure_ethics">Pure ethics</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Pure ethics"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In essence, Kant's remarks in the preface prepare the reader for the thrust of the ideas he goes on to develop in the <i>Groundwork. </i>The purpose of the <i>Groundwork</i> is to prepare a foundation for moral theory. Because Kant believes that any fact that is grounded in <a href="/wiki/Empirical_knowledge" class="mw-redirect" title="Empirical knowledge">empirical knowledge</a> must be <a href="/wiki/Contingency_(philosophy)" title="Contingency (philosophy)">contingent</a>, he can only derive the necessity that the moral law requires from <i>a priori </i>reasoning. It is with this significance of necessity in mind that the <i>Groundwork</i> attempts to establish a pure (<i>a priori</i>) ethics. Such an ethics explains the possibility of a moral law and locates what Kant calls the <i>supreme principle of morality</i>. The aim of the following sections of the <i>Groundwork</i> is to explain what the moral law would have to be like if it existed and to show that, in fact, it exists and is authoritative for us. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Section_One">Section One</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Section One"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In section one, Kant argues from <a href="/wiki/Common_sense" title="Common sense">common-sense</a> morality to the supreme principle of morality, which he calls the <i><a href="/wiki/Categorical_imperative" title="Categorical imperative">categorical imperative</a></i>. Kant thinks that uncontroversial premises from our shared common-sense morality, and analysis of common sense concepts such as ‘the good’, ‘<a href="/wiki/Duty" title="Duty">duty</a>’, and ‘moral worth’, will yield the supreme principle of morality (i.e., the categorical imperative). Kant's discussion in section one can be roughly divided into four parts: </p> <ol><li>the good will;</li> <li>the <a href="/wiki/Teleological_argument" title="Teleological argument">teleological argument</a>;</li> <li>the three propositions regarding duty; and</li> <li>the categorical imperative.</li></ol> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="The_Good_Will">The Good Will</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: The Good Will"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Kant thinks that, with the exception of the good will, all goods are qualified. By <i>qualified</i>, Kant means that those goods are good insofar as they <a href="/wiki/Presupposition" title="Presupposition">presuppose</a> or derive their goodness from something else. For example, wealth can be extremely good if it is used for <a href="/wiki/Human_welfare" class="mw-redirect" title="Human welfare">human welfare</a>, but it can be disastrous if a corrupt mind is behind it. In a similar vein, we often desire intelligence and take it to be good, but we certainly would not take the intelligence of an evil genius to be good. The <i>good will</i>, by contrast, is good in itself. Kant writes, “A good will is not good because of what it effects or accomplishes, because of its fitness to attain some proposed end, but only because of its <a href="/wiki/Volition_(psychology)" title="Volition (psychology)">volition</a>, that is, it is good in itself.”<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>iii<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The precise nature of the good will is subject to scholarly debate. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="The_Teleological_Argument">The Teleological Argument</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: The Teleological Argument"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Kant believes that a teleological argument may be given to demonstrate that the “true vocation of reason must be to produce a will that is good.”<sup id="cite_ref-:0_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>iv<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> As with other <a href="/wiki/Teleological_argument" title="Teleological argument">teleological arguments</a>, such as the case with that for the <a href="/wiki/Existence_of_God" title="Existence of God">existence of God</a>, Kant's teleological argument is motivated by an appeal to a belief or sense that the whole universe, or parts of it, serve some greater <i><a href="/wiki/Telos" title="Telos">telos</a></i>, or end/purpose. If nature's creatures are so purposed, Kant thinks their capacity to <a href="/wiki/Reason" title="Reason">reason</a> would certainly not serve a purpose of <a href="/wiki/Self-preservation" title="Self-preservation">self-preservation</a> or achievement of happiness, which are better served by their natural inclinations. What guides the will in those matters is <a href="/wiki/Inclination_(ethics)" title="Inclination (ethics)">inclination</a>. </p><p>By the <a href="/wiki/Process_of_elimination" title="Process of elimination">method of elimination</a>, Kant argues that the capacity to reason must serve another purpose, namely, <i>to</i> <i>produce good will</i>, or, in Kant's own words, to “produce a will that is...good in itself.”<sup id="cite_ref-:0_4-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>iv<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Kant's argument from <a href="/wiki/Teleology" title="Teleology">teleology</a> is widely taken to be problematic: it is based on the assumption that our faculties have distinct natural purposes for which they are most suitable, and it is questionable whether Kant's critical philosophy could be consistent with this sort of argument. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="The_Three_Propositions_Regarding_Duty">The Three Propositions Regarding Duty</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: The Three Propositions Regarding Duty"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The <a href="/wiki/Teleological_argument" title="Teleological argument">teleological argument</a>, if flawed, still offers that critical distinction between a will guided by <a href="/wiki/Inclination_(ethics)" title="Inclination (ethics)">inclination</a> and a will guided by <a href="/wiki/Reason" title="Reason">reason</a>. That will which is guided by reason, Kant will argue, is the will that acts from <a href="/wiki/Duty" title="Duty">duty</a>. Kant's argument proceeds by way of three propositions, the last of which is derived from the first two. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="First_proposition">First proposition</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: First proposition"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Although Kant never explicitly states what the first proposition is, it is clear that its content is suggested by the following <a href="/wiki/Common_sense" title="Common sense">common-sense</a> observation. Common sense distinguishes among: </p> <div><ol style="list-style-type:lower-alpha"><li>the case in which a person clearly acts contrary to duty;</li><li>the case in which a person's actions coincide with duty, but are not motivated by duty; and</li><li>the case in which a person's actions coincide with duty because he or she is motivated by duty.</li></ol></div> <p>Kant thinks our actions only have moral worth and deserve esteem when they are motivated by duty. Kant illustrates the distinction between (b) and (c) with the example of a <a href="/wiki/Shopkeeper" title="Shopkeeper">shopkeeper</a> who chooses not to overcharge an inexperienced customer.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>v<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The shopkeeper treats his customer fairly, but because it is in his prudent self-interest to do so, in order to preserve his reputation, we cannot assume that he is motivated by duty, and thus the shopkeeper's action cannot be said to have moral worth. Kant contrasts the shopkeeper with the case of a person who, faced with “adversity and hopeless grief”, and having entirely lost his will to live, yet obeys his duty to preserve his life.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>vi<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Because this person acts from duty, his actions have moral worth. Kant also notes that many individuals possess an inclination to do good; but however commendable such actions may be, they do not have moral worth when they are done out of pleasure. If, however, a philanthropist had lost all capacity to feel pleasure in good works but still did pursue them out of duty, only then would we say they were morally worthy. </p><p>Scholars disagree about the precise formulation of the first proposition.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>vii<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>viii<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> One interpretation asserts that the missing proposition is that an act has moral worth only when its agent is motivated by respect for the law, as in the case of the man who preserves his life only from duty.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (July 2020)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> Another interpretation asserts that the proposition is that an act has moral worth only if the principle acted upon generates moral action non-contingently. If the shopkeeper in the above example had made his choice contingent upon what would serve the interests of his business, then his act has no moral worth.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (July 2020)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> </p><p>Kant states that this is how we should understand the Scriptural command to love even one's enemy: love as inclination or sentiment cannot be commanded, only rational love as duty can be. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Second_proposition">Second proposition</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Second proposition"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div><p> Kant's second proposition states:<sup id="cite_ref-:1_9-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>ix<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p><blockquote><p>[A]n action from duty has its moral worth not in the purpose to be attained by it but in the maxim in accordance with which it is decided upon, and therefore does not depend upon the realization of the object of the action but merely upon the principle of volition in accordance with which the action is done without regard for any object of the faculty of desire.” </p></blockquote><p>A maxim of an action is its principle of volition. By this, Kant means that the moral worth of an act depends not on its consequences, intended or real, but on the principle acted upon. </p><div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Third_proposition">Third proposition</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Third proposition"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Kant combines these two propositions into a third proposition, a complete statement of our common sense notions of duty. This proposition is that ‘duty is necessity of action from respect for law.’<sup id="cite_ref-:1_9-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>ix<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> This final proposition serves as the basis of Kant's argument for the supreme principle of morality, the categorical imperative. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Categorical_Imperative:_Universality">Categorical Imperative: Universality</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: Categorical Imperative: Universality"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Categorical_imperative" title="Categorical imperative">Categorical imperative</a></div> <p>Kant believes that all of our actions, whether motivated by inclination or morality, must follow some law. For example, if a person wants to qualify for nationals in ultimate frisbee, he will have to follow a law that tells him to practice his backhand pass, among other things. Notice, however, that this law is only binding on the person who wants to qualify for nationals in ultimate frisbee. In this way, it is contingent upon the ends that he sets and the circumstances that he is in. We know from the third proposition, however, that the moral law must bind universally and necessarily, that is, regardless of ends and circumstances. </p><p> At this point, Kant asks, "what kind of law can that be, the representation of which must determine the will, even without regard for the effect expected from it...?"<sup id="cite_ref-:2_11-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:2-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>x<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> He concludes that the only remaining alternative is a law that reflects only the form of law itself, namely that of <a href="/wiki/Universality_(philosophy)" title="Universality (philosophy)"><i>universality</i></a>. Thus, Kant arrives at his well-known categorical imperative, the moral law referenced in the above discussion of duty. Kant defines the categorical imperative as the following:<sup id="cite_ref-:2_11-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:2-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>x<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p><blockquote><p>I ought never to act except in such a way that I could also will that my <a href="/wiki/Maxim_(philosophy)" title="Maxim (philosophy)">maxim</a> should become a <a href="/wiki/Universal_law" title="Universal law">universal law</a>.</p></blockquote> <p>Later, at the beginning of Section Two, Kant admits that it is in fact impossible to give a single example of an action that could be certainly said to have been done from duty alone, or ever to know one's own mind well enough to be sure of one's own motives. The important thing, then, is not whether such pure virtue ever actually exists in the world; the important thing is that that reason dictates duty and that we recognize it as such. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Section_Two">Section Two</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Section Two"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In Section II, Kant starts from scratch and attempts to move from popular moral philosophy to a metaphysics of morals. Kant begins Section II of the <i>Groundwork</i> by criticizing attempts to begin moral evaluation with empirical observation. He states that even when we take ourselves to be behaving morally, we cannot be at all certain that we are purely motivated by duty and not by inclinations. Kant observes that humans are quite good at deceiving themselves when it comes to evaluating their motivations for acting, and therefore even in circumstances where individuals believe themselves to be acting from duty, it is possible they are acting merely in accordance with duty and are motivated by some contingent desire. However, the fact that we see ourselves as often falling short of what morality demands of us indicates we have some functional concept of the moral law. </p><p>Kant begins his new argument in Section II with some observations about rational willing. All things in nature must act according to laws, but only rational beings act in accordance with the representation of a law. In other words, only rational beings have the capacity to recognize and consult laws and principles in order to guide their actions. Thus, only rational creatures have practical reason. The laws and principles that rational agents consult yield imperatives, or rules that necessitate the will. For example, if a person wants to qualify for nationals in ultimate frisbee, he will recognize and consult the rules that tell him how to achieve this goal. These rules will provide him with imperatives that he must follow as long as he wants to qualify for nationals. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Imperatives">Imperatives</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: Imperatives"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Imperatives are either <a href="/wiki/Hypothetical_imperative" title="Hypothetical imperative">hypothetical</a> or <a href="/wiki/Categorical_imperative" title="Categorical imperative">categorical</a>. Hypothetical imperatives provide the rules an agent must follow when he or she adopts a contingent end (an end based on desire or inclination). So, for example, if I want ice cream, I should go to the ice cream shop or make myself some ice cream. However, notice that this imperative only applies if I want ice cream. If I have no interest in ice cream, the imperative does not apply to me. </p><p>Kant posits that there are two types of hypothetical imperative—<i>rules of skill</i> and <i>counsels of prudence</i>. <b>Rules of skill</b> are determined by the particular ends we set and tell us what is necessary to achieve those particular ends. However, Kant observes that there is one end that we all share, namely our own happiness. Unfortunately, it is difficult, if not impossible, to know exactly what will make us happy or how to achieve the things that will make us happy. We can only know through experience what certain things will please us and even then, that could change over time. Therefore, Kant argues, we can at best have <b>counsels of prudence</b>, as opposed to outright rules. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Categorical_Imperative:_Laws_of_nature">Categorical Imperative: Laws of nature</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: Categorical Imperative: Laws of nature"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Categorical_imperative" title="Categorical imperative">Categorical imperative</a></div> <p>Recall that the moral law, if it exists, must apply universally and necessarily. Therefore, a moral law could never rest on hypothetical imperatives, which only apply if one adopts some particular end. Rather, the imperative associated with the moral law must be a categorical imperative. The <a href="/wiki/Categorical_imperative" title="Categorical imperative">categorical imperative</a> holds for all rational agents, regardless of whatever varying ends a person may have. If we could find it, the categorical imperative would provide us with the moral law. </p><p>What would the categorical imperative look like? We know that it could never be based on the particular ends that people adopt to give themselves rules of action. Kant believes that this leaves us with one remaining alternative, namely that the categorical imperative must be based on the notion of a law itself. <b>Laws</b> (or <i>commands</i>), by definition, apply universally. From this observation, Kant derives the categorical imperative, which requires that moral agents act only in a way that the principle of their will could become a universal law.<sup id="cite_ref-:3_12-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:3-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>xi<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The categorical imperative is a test of proposed maxims; it does not generate a list of duties on its own. The categorical imperative is Kant's general statement of the supreme principle of morality, but Kant goes on to provide three different formulations of this general statement. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="The_Formula_of_the_Universal_Law_of_Nature">The Formula of the Universal Law of Nature</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: The Formula of the Universal Law of Nature"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The first formulation states that an action is only morally permissible if every agent could adopt the same principle of action without generating one of two kinds of contradiction. This is called the Formula for the Universal Law of Nature, which states that one should, “act as if the maxim of your action were to become by your will a universal law of nature.”<sup id="cite_ref-:3_12-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:3-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>xi<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> A proposed maxim can fail to meet such requirement in one of two ways. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Contradiction_in_conception">Contradiction in conception</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=16" title="Edit section: Contradiction in conception"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>First, one might encounter a scenario in which one's proposed maxim would become impossible in a world in which it is <a href="/wiki/Universalization" title="Universalization">universalized</a>. For example, suppose a person in need of money makes it his or her maxim to attain a loan by making a false promise to pay it back. If everyone followed this principle, nobody would trust another person when he or she made a promise, and the institution of promise-making would be destroyed. However, the maxim of making a false promise in order to attain a loan relies on the very institution of promise-making that universalizing this maxim destroys. Kant calls this a "contradiction in conception" because it is impossible to conceive of the maxim being universalized.<sup id="cite_ref-:4_13-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:4-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>xii<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Contradiction_in_willing">Contradiction in willing</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=17" title="Edit section: Contradiction in willing"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Second, a maxim might fail by generating what Kant calls a "contradiction in willing."<sup id="cite_ref-:4_13-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:4-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>xii<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> This sort of contradiction comes about when the universalized maxim contradicts something that rational agents necessarily will. For example, a person might have a maxim never to help others when they are in need. However, Kant thinks that all agents necessarily wish for the help of others from time to time. Therefore, it is impossible for the agent to will that his or her maxim be universally adopted. If an attempt to universalize a maxim results in a contradiction in conception, it violates what Kant calls a perfect duty. If it results in a contradiction in willing, it violates what Kant calls an imperfect duty. Perfect duties are negative duties, that is duties not to commit or engage in certain actions or activities (for example theft). Imperfect duties are positive duties, duties to commit or engage in certain actions or activities (for example, giving to charity). </p><p>In the <i>Groundwork</i>, Kant says that perfect duties never admit of exception for the sake of inclination,<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>xiii<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> which is sometimes taken to imply that imperfect duties <i>do</i> admit of exception for the sake of inclination. However, in a later work (<i><a href="/wiki/The_Metaphysics_of_Morals" class="mw-redirect" title="The Metaphysics of Morals">The Metaphysics of Morals</a>)</i>, Kant suggests that imperfect duties only allow for flexibility in how one chooses to fulfill them. Kant believes that we have perfect and imperfect duties both to ourselves and to others. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="The_Formula_of_Humanity">The Formula of Humanity</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=18" title="Edit section: The Formula of Humanity"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The second formulation of the categorical imperative is the Formula of Humanity, which Kant arrives at by considering the motivating ground of the categorical imperative. Because the moral law is necessary and universal, its motivating ground must have absolute worth.<sup id="cite_ref-:5_15-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:5-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>xiv<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Were we to find something with such absolute worth, an end in itself, that would be the only possible ground of a categorical imperative. Kant asserts that, “a human being and generally every rational being exists as an end in itself.”<sup id="cite_ref-:5_15-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:5-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>xiv<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The corresponding imperative, the Formula of Humanity, commands that “you use humanity, whether in your own persona or in the person of any other, always at the same time as an end, never merely as a means.”<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>xv<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> When we treat others merely as means to our discretionary ends, we violate a perfect duty. However, Kant thinks that we also have an imperfect duty to advance the end of humanity. For example, making a false promise to another person in order to achieve the end of getting some money treats their rational nature as a mere means to one's selfish end. This is, therefore, a violation of a perfect duty. By contrast, it is possible to fail to donate to charity without treating some other person as a mere means to an end, but in doing so we fail to advance the end of humanity, thereby violating an imperfect duty. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="The_Formula_of_Autonomy_and_the_Kingdom_of_Ends">The Formula of Autonomy and the Kingdom of Ends</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=19" title="Edit section: The Formula of Autonomy and the Kingdom of Ends"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The Formula of <a href="/wiki/Autonomy#Philosophy" title="Autonomy">Autonomy</a> takes something important from both the Formula for the Universal Law of Nature and the Formula of Humanity. The Formula for the Universal Law of Nature involves thinking about your maxim as if it were an objective law, while the Formula of Humanity is more subjective and is concerned with how you are treating the person with whom you are interacting. The Formula of Autonomy combines the objectivity of the former with the subjectivity of the latter and suggests that the agent ask what he or she would accept as a universal law. To do this, he or she would test his or her maxims against the moral law that he or she has legislated. The Principle of Autonomy is, “the principle of every human will as a will universally legislating through all its maxims.”<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>xvi<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Kingdom_of_ends">Kingdom of ends</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=20" title="Edit section: Kingdom of ends"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Kant believes that the Formula of Autonomy yields another “fruitful concept,” the <a href="/wiki/Kingdom_of_Ends" title="Kingdom of Ends"><i>kingdom of ends</i></a>. The kingdom of ends is the “systematic union” of all ends in themselves (<a href="/wiki/Rational_agent" title="Rational agent">rational agents</a>) and the ends that they set. All ends that rational agents set have a price and can be exchanged for one another. Ends in themselves, however, have dignity and have no equivalent. In addition to being the basis for the Formula of Autonomy and the kingdom of ends, autonomy itself plays an important role in Kant's moral philosophy. Autonomy is the capacity to be the legislator of the moral law, in other words, to give the moral law to oneself. Autonomy is opposed to heteronomy, which consists of having one's will determined by forces alien to it. Because alien forces could only determine our actions contingently, Kant believes that autonomy is the only basis for a non-contingent moral law. It is in failing to see this distinction that Kant believes his predecessors have failed: their theories have all been heteronomous. At this point Kant has given us a picture of what a universal and necessary law would look like should it exist. However, he has yet to prove that it does exist, or, in other words, that it applies to us. That is the task of Section III. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Section_Three">Section Three</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=21" title="Edit section: Section Three"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In section three, Kant argues that we have a free will and are thus morally self-legislating. The fact of freedom means that we are bound by the moral law. In the course of his discussion, Kant establishes two viewpoints from which we can consider ourselves; we can view ourselves: </p> <ol><li>as members of the world of appearances, which operates according to the laws of nature; or</li> <li>as members of the intellectual world, which is how we view ourselves when we think of ourselves as having free wills and when we think about how to act.</li></ol> <p>These two different viewpoints allow Kant to make sense of how we can have free wills, despite the fact that the world of appearances follows laws of nature deterministically. Finally, Kant remarks that whilst he would like to be able to explain how morality ends up motivating us, his theory is unable to do so. This is because the intellectual world—in which morality is grounded—is something that we cannot make positive claims about. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Freedom_and_Willing">Freedom and Willing</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=22" title="Edit section: Freedom and Willing"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Kant opens section III by defining the will as the cause of our actions. According to Kant, having a will is the same thing as being rational, and having a <a href="/wiki/Free_will" title="Free will">free will</a> means having a will that is not influenced by external forces. This is a <b>negative definition</b> of freedom—it tells us that freedom is freedom from determination by alien forces.<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>xvii<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>However, Kant also provides a <b>positive definition</b> of freedom: a free will, Kant argues, gives itself a law—it sets its own ends, and has a special causal power to bring them about. A free will is one that has the power to bring about its own actions in a way that is distinct from the way that normal laws of nature cause things to happen. According to Kant, we need laws to be able to act. An action not based on some sort of law would be arbitrary and not the sort of thing that we could call the result of willing. </p><p>Because a free will is not merely pushed around by external forces, external forces do not provide laws for a free will. The only source of law for a free will is that will itself. This is Kant's notion of <i><a href="/wiki/Autonomy" title="Autonomy">autonomy</a></i>. Thus, Kant's notion of <i>freedom of the will</i> requires that we are morally self-legislating; that we impose the moral law on ourselves. Kant thinks that the positive understanding of freedom amounts to the same thing as the <a href="/wiki/Categorical_imperative" title="Categorical imperative">categorical imperative</a>, and that “a free will and a will under moral laws are one and the same.”<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>xviii<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> This is the key notion that later scholars call the <a href="/wiki/Reciprocity_(social_psychology)" title="Reciprocity (social psychology)">reciprocity</a> thesis, which states that a will is bound by the moral law if and only if it is free. That means that if you know that someone is free, then you know that the moral law applies to them, and vice versa. Kant then asks why we have to follow the principle of morality. Although we all may feel the force of our <a href="/wiki/Conscience" title="Conscience">consciences</a>, Kant, examining phenomena with a philosophical eye, is forced to “admit that no interest impels me to do so.”<sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>xix<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> He says that we clearly do “regard ourselves as free in acting and so to hold ourselves yet subject to certain laws,”<sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>xx<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> but wonders how this is possible. He then explains just how it is possible, by appealing to the two perspectives that we can consider ourselves under. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Gods-eye_and_human_perspective">Gods-eye and human perspective</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=23" title="Edit section: Gods-eye and human perspective"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>According to Kant, human beings cannot know the ultimate structure of reality. Whilst humans experience the world as having three spatial dimensions and as being extended in time, we cannot say anything about how reality ultimately is, from a <a href="/wiki/God%27s-eye_view" class="mw-redirect" title="God's-eye view">god's-eye perspective</a>. From this perspective, the world may be nothing like the way it appears to human beings. We cannot get out of our heads and leave our human perspective on the world to know what it is like independently of our own viewpoint; we can only know about how the world appears to us, not about how the world is in itself. Kant calls the world as it appears to us from our point of view the world of sense or of appearances. The world from a god's-eye perspective is the world of things in themselves or the “world of understanding.” </p><p>It is the distinction between these two perspectives that Kant appeals to in explaining how freedom is possible. Insofar as we take ourselves to be exercising our free will, Kant argues, we have to consider ourselves from the perspective of the world of understanding. It is only in the world of understanding that it makes sense to talk of free wills. In the world of appearances, everything is determined by physical laws, and there is no room for a free will to change the course of events. If you consider yourself as part of the world of appearances, then you cannot think of yourself as having a will that brings things about. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Occupying_Two_Worlds">Occupying Two Worlds</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=24" title="Edit section: Occupying Two Worlds"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>On Kant's view, the categorical imperative is possible because, although we as rational agents can be thought of as members of both the intelligible and the phenomenal world (understanding and appearance), it is the intelligible world of understanding that “contains the ground of the world of sense [appearance] and so too of its laws.”<sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>xxi<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In this sense, the world of understanding is more fundamental than, or ‘grounds’, the world of sense. Because of this, the moral law, which clearly applies to the world of understanding, also applies to the world of sense as well, because the world of understanding has priority. As a result, and because the world of understanding is more fundamental and primary, its laws hold for the world of sense too. The categorical imperative, and therefore the moral law, binds us in the intelligible world and in the phenomenal world of appearances. </p><p>Kant argues that autonomous rational agents, like ourselves, think of themselves as having free will. This permits such beings to make judgments such as “you ought to have done that thing that you did not do.” Kant claims, in both this work and in the first Critique, that this notion of freedom cannot be derived from our phenomenal experience. We can be sure that this concept of freedom doesn't come from experience because experience itself contradicts it. Our experience is of everything in the sensible world and in the sensible world, everything that happens does so in accord with the laws of nature and there is no room for a free will to influence events. </p><p>So, Kant argues, we are committed to two incompatible positions. From the perspective of practical reason, which is involved when we consider how to act, we have to take ourselves as free. But from the perspective of speculative reason, which is concerned with investigating the nature of the world of appearance, freedom is impossible. So we are committed to freedom on the one hand, and yet on the other hand we are also committed to a world of appearances that is run by laws of nature and has no room for freedom. We cannot give up on either. We cannot avoid taking ourselves as free when we act, and we cannot give up our picture of the world as determined by laws of nature. As Kant puts it, there is a contradiction between freedom and natural necessity. He calls this a dialectic of reason. </p><p>The way Kant suggests that we should deal with this dialectic is through an appeal to the two perspectives we can take on ourselves. This is the same sort of move he made earlier in this section. On one perspective, the perspective of the world of understanding, we are free, whereas from the other, the perspective of the world of the senses or appearances, natural laws determine everything that happens. There is no contradiction because the claim to freedom applies to one world, and the claim of the laws of nature determining everything applies to the other. The claims do not conflict because they have different targets. </p><p>Kant cautions that we cannot feel or intuit this world of the understanding. He also stresses that we are unable to make interesting positive claims about it because we are not able to experience the world of the understanding. Kant argues that we cannot use the notion of the world of the understanding to explain how freedom is possible or how pure reason could have anything to say about practical matters because we simply do not and cannot have a clear enough grasp of the world of the understanding. The notion of an intelligible world does point us towards the idea of a kingdom of ends, which is a useful and important idea. We just have to be careful not to get carried away and make claims that we are not entitled to. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Critical_reaction">Critical reaction</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=25" title="Edit section: Critical reaction"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div><p> In his book <i><a href="/wiki/On_the_Basis_of_Morality" title="On the Basis of Morality">On the Basis of Morality</a></i> (1840), <a href="/wiki/Arthur_Schopenhauer" title="Arthur Schopenhauer">Arthur Schopenhauer</a> presents a careful analysis of the <i>Groundwork</i>.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (July 2020)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> <a href="/wiki/Schopenhauer%27s_criticism_of_Kant%27s_Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysic_of_Morals" class="mw-redirect" title="Schopenhauer's criticism of Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals">His criticism</a> is an attempt to prove, among other things, that actions are not moral when they are performed solely from <a href="/wiki/Deontology" title="Deontology">duty</a>. Schopenhauer called <a href="/wiki/Kantian_ethics" title="Kantian ethics">Kant's ethical philosophy</a> the weakest point in <a href="/wiki/Kantianism" title="Kantianism">Kant's philosophical system</a> and specifically targeted the Categorical Imperative, labeling it cold and <a href="/wiki/Egoism" title="Egoism">egoistic</a>. While he publicly called himself a Kantian, and made clear and bold criticisms of <a href="/wiki/Hegelian" class="mw-redirect" title="Hegelian">Hegelian</a> philosophy, he was quick and unrelenting in his analysis of the inconsistencies throughout Kant's long body of work. Schopenhauer's early admirer, <a href="/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche" title="Friedrich Nietzsche">Friedrich Nietzsche</a>, also criticized the Categorical Imperative as "dangerous to life", in that, among other things: </p><blockquote><p>A nation goes to pieces when it confounds its duty with the general concept of duty. Nothing works a more complete and penetrating disaster than every "impersonal" duty, every sacrifice before the Moloch of abstraction.<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-23"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p></blockquote><p>He takes it to be a peculiar expression of "slavish" egalitarianism, <i>de facto</i> always already prioritizing the sick, the weakly over the healthy and strong – those capable of valid self-legislation to begin with –, thereby undermining the very possibility of human greatness at its root. But others have stressed many deeper similarities that adherents to a framework of unqualified liberalism, prone to condemning Nietzsche from the canon, have overlooked.<sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-24"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>In the 20th century, <a href="/wiki/Lewis_White_Beck" title="Lewis White Beck">Lewis White Beck</a> observed that in the course of evaluating Kant's moral philosophy, some modern scholars have neglected his "second critique" (<i>The Critique of Practical Reason</i>) in the course of placing their primary emphasis on the <i>Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals.</i> In his <i>A Commentary on Kant's Critique of Practical Reason</i> Beck argues that a more comprehensive understanding of Kant's moral philosophy emerges in the "second critique" as a result of the analysis which Kant puts forth in reference to the concept of "freedom", the postulates of "pure practical reason" and the notion of "practical reason". Beck concludes that in the "second critique" Kant weaves these diverse strands into single unified theory of practical moral authority more successfully than in the <i>Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals.</i><sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-25"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Shook20160211_26-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Shook20160211-26"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-27"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="English_editions_and_translations">English editions and translations</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=26" title="Edit section: English editions and translations"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>1895. <i><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5682">Fundamental principles of the metaphysics of ethics</a></i>, translated by <a href="/wiki/Thomas_Kingsmill_Abbott" title="Thomas Kingsmill Abbott">Thomas Kingsmill Abbott</a>. London: <a href="/wiki/Longmans,_Green_and_Co" class="mw-redirect" title="Longmans, Green and Co">Longmans, Green and Co</a>. <ul><li>1949. <i>Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals</i>, tr. T. K. Abbott, introduction by <a href="/w/index.php?title=Marvin_Fox&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Marvin Fox (page does not exist)">Marvin Fox</a>. Indianapolis, NY: <a href="/wiki/Bobbs-Merrill_Company" title="Bobbs-Merrill Company">Bobbs-Merrill</a>.</li> <li>2005. <i>Fundamental principles of the metaphysics of ethics</i>, tr. T. K. Abbott. Mineola, NY: <a href="/wiki/Dover_Publications" title="Dover Publications">Dover Publications</a>. <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-486-44309-4" title="Special:BookSources/0-486-44309-4">0-486-44309-4</a> (pbk.)</li> <li>2005. <i>Groundwork for the metaphysics of morals</i>, tr. T. K. Abbott, edited with revisions by <a href="/wiki/Lara_Denis" title="Lara Denis">Lara Denis</a>. Peterborough, ON: <a href="/wiki/Broadview_Press" title="Broadview Press">Broadview Press</a>. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-55111-539-5" title="Special:BookSources/1-55111-539-5">1-55111-539-5</a></li></ul></li> <li>1938. <i>The fundamental principles of the metaphysic of ethics</i>, translated by <a href="/w/index.php?title=Otto_Manthey-Zorn&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Otto Manthey-Zorn (page does not exist)">Otto Manthey-Zorn</a>. New York: <a href="/wiki/D._Appleton-Century" class="mw-redirect" title="D. Appleton-Century">D. Appleton-Century</a>.</li> <li>1948. <i>The Moral Law</i>, translated by <a href="/wiki/Herbert_James_Paton" title="Herbert James Paton">Herbert James Paton</a>. London: Hutchinson's University Library. <ul><li>1967. <i>The Moral Law; Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals</i>, translated by H. J. Paton. New York: <a href="/wiki/Barnes_%26_Noble_Books" class="mw-redirect" title="Barnes & Noble Books">Barnes & Noble Books</a>.</li> <li>1991 <i>The Moral Law: Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals</i>, tr. H. J. Paton. London: <a href="/wiki/Routledge" title="Routledge">Routledge</a>. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-415-07843-1" title="Special:BookSources/0-415-07843-1">0-415-07843-1</a>.</li></ul></li> <li>1949. "Metaphysical Foundations of Morals," tr. <a href="/wiki/Carl_Joachim_Friedrich" title="Carl Joachim Friedrich">Carl J. Friedrich</a> in <i>The philosophy of Kant; Immanuel Kant's moral and political writings</i>, edited by Carl J. Friedrich. New York: <a href="/wiki/Modern_Library" title="Modern Library">Modern Library</a>.</li> <li>1959 <i>Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals, and What is Enlightenment?</i>, translated with an introduction by <a href="/wiki/Lewis_White_Beck" title="Lewis White Beck">Lewis White Beck</a>. New York: Liberal Arts Press. <ul><li>1969. <i>Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals</i>, tr. L. W. Beck, with critical essays edited by <a href="/wiki/Robert_Paul_Wolff" title="Robert Paul Wolff">Robert Paul Wolff</a>. Indianapolis: <a href="/wiki/Bobbs-Merrill_Company" title="Bobbs-Merrill Company">Bobbs-Merrill</a>.</li> <li>1990. <i>Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals and What is Enlightenment</i> (2nd ed., revised), translated with an introduction by L. W. Beck. New York: <a href="/wiki/Macmillan_Publishers" title="Macmillan Publishers">Macmillan</a>; London: <a href="/wiki/Collier_Macmillan" class="mw-redirect" title="Collier Macmillan">Collier Macmillan</a>. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-02-307825-1" title="Special:BookSources/0-02-307825-1">0-02-307825-1</a>.</li></ul></li> <li>1970. <i>Kant on the foundation of morality; a modern version of the Grundlegung</i>, translated with commentary by <a href="/w/index.php?title=Brendan_E._A._Liddell&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Brendan E. A. Liddell (page does not exist)">Brendan E. A. Liddell</a>. Bloomington: <a href="/wiki/Indiana_University_Press" title="Indiana University Press">Indiana University Press</a>. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0253331714" title="Special:BookSources/0253331714">0253331714</a> (pbk).</li> <li>1981 <i>Grounding for the metaphysics of morals</i>, translated by <a href="/w/index.php?title=James_Wesley_Ellington&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="James Wesley Ellington (page does not exist)">James Wesley Ellington</a>. Indianapolis: <a href="/wiki/Hackett_Pub_Co" class="mw-redirect" title="Hackett Pub Co">Hackett Pub. Co</a>. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-915145-01-4" title="Special:BookSources/0-915145-01-4">0-915145-01-4</a>, <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-915145-00-6" title="Special:BookSources/0-915145-00-6">0-915145-00-6</a> (pbk.). <ul><li>1983. <i>Ethical philosophy: the complete texts of Grounding for the metaphysics of morals, and Metaphysical principles of virtue, part II of The metaphysics of morals</i>, tr. J. W. Ellington, with an introduction by <a href="/w/index.php?title=Warner_A._Wick&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Warner A. Wick (page does not exist)">Warner A. Wick</a>. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. Co. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-915145-43-X" title="Special:BookSources/0-915145-43-X">0-915145-43-X</a>, <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-915145-44-8" title="Special:BookSources/0-915145-44-8">0-915145-44-8</a>.</li> <li>1993. <i>Grounding for the metaphysics of morals; with, On a supposed right to lie because of philanthropic concerns</i> (3rd ed.), tr. J. W. Ellington. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. Co. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-87220-167-8" title="Special:BookSources/0-87220-167-8">0-87220-167-8</a>, <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-87220-166-X" title="Special:BookSources/0-87220-166-X">0-87220-166-X</a>.</li> <li>1994. <i>Ethical philosophy : the complete texts of grounding for the metaphysics of morals and metaphysical principles of virtue</i>, tr. J. W. Ellington. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-87220-321-2" title="Special:BookSources/0-87220-321-2">0-87220-321-2</a>, <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-87220-320-4" title="Special:BookSources/0-87220-320-4">0-87220-320-4</a>.</li></ul></li> <li>1998. <i>Groundwork of the metaphysics of morals</i>, translated by <a href="/wiki/Mary_J._Gregor" title="Mary J. Gregor">Mary J. Gregor</a>, with an introduction by <a href="/wiki/Christine_Korsgaard" title="Christine Korsgaard">Christine Korsgaard</a>. Cambridge: <a href="/wiki/Cambridge_University_Press" title="Cambridge University Press">Cambridge University Press</a>. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-521-62235-2" title="Special:BookSources/0-521-62235-2">0-521-62235-2</a>, <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-521-62695-1" title="Special:BookSources/0-521-62695-1">0-521-62695-1</a>.</li> <li>2002. <i>Groundwork for the metaphysics of morals</i>, translated <a href="/w/index.php?title=Arnulf_Zweig&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Arnulf Zweig (page does not exist)">Arnulf Zweig</a>, edited by <a href="/wiki/Thomas_E._Hill_(academic)" title="Thomas E. Hill (academic)">Thomas E. Hill, Jr.</a> and Arnulf Zweig. Oxford: <a href="/wiki/Oxford_University_Press" title="Oxford University Press">Oxford University Press</a>. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-19-875180-X" title="Special:BookSources/0-19-875180-X">0-19-875180-X</a>.</li> <li>2002. <i>Groundwork for the metaphysics of morals</i>, translated <a href="/wiki/Allen_W._Wood" title="Allen W. Wood">Allen W. Wood</a>, with essays by <a href="/wiki/J.B._Schneewind" class="mw-redirect" title="J.B. Schneewind">J. B. Schneewind</a>, et al. New Haven: <a href="/wiki/Yale_University_Press" title="Yale University Press">Yale University Press</a>. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-300-09486-8" title="Special:BookSources/0-300-09486-8">0-300-09486-8</a>, <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-300-09487-6" title="Special:BookSources/0-300-09487-6">0-300-09487-6</a>.</li> <li>2005. <i><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.earlymoderntexts.com">Groundwork for the Metaphysic of Morals</a></i>, edited for easier reading by <a href="/wiki/Jonathan_F._Bennett" class="mw-redirect" title="Jonathan F. Bennett">Jonathan F. Bennett</a>.</li> <li>2011. <i>Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals</i>: <i>A German-English Edition</i>, edited and translated by <a href="/wiki/Mary_J._Gregor" title="Mary J. Gregor">Mary Gregor</a> and <a href="/wiki/Jens_Timmermann" title="Jens Timmermann">Jens Timmermann</a>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-51457-6" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-521-51457-6">978-0-521-51457-6</a>.</li> <li>2013. <i><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://groundlaying.appspot.com">Groundlaying toward the Metaphysics of Morals</a></i>, two translations (one for scholars, one for students) in multiple formats, by Stephen Orr.</li> <li>2019. 'Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals', edited and translated by Christopher Bennett, Joe Saunders and <a href="/wiki/Robert_Stern_(philosopher)" title="Robert Stern (philosopher)">Robert Stern</a>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0198786191" title="Special:BookSources/978-0198786191">978-0198786191</a>.</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=27" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1266661725">.mw-parser-output .portalbox{padding:0;margin:0.5em 0;display:table;box-sizing:border-box;max-width:175px;list-style:none}.mw-parser-output .portalborder{border:1px solid 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data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist reflist-lower-roman"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Groundwork</i> 4:389</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Groundwork</i> 4:390</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Groundwork</i> 4:394</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:0-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:0_4-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_4-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Groundwork</i> 4:396</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Groundwork</i> 4:397</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Groundwork</i> 4:398</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFTimmermann2010" class="citation book cs1">Timmermann, Jens (December 9, 2010). <i>Kant’s Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals: A Commentary</i>. Cambridge University Press. pp. <span class="nowrap">26–</span>27. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780521175081" title="Special:BookSources/9780521175081"><bdi>9780521175081</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Kant%E2%80%99s+Groundwork+of+the+Metaphysics+of+Morals%3A+A+Commentary&rft.pages=%3Cspan+class%3D%22nowrap%22%3E26-%3C%2Fspan%3E27&rft.pub=Cambridge+University+Press&rft.date=2010-12-09&rft.isbn=9780521175081&rft.aulast=Timmermann&rft.aufirst=Jens&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGroundwork+of+the+Metaphysics+of+Morals" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFAllison2011" class="citation book cs1">Allison, Henry E. (October 6, 2011). <i>Kant's Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals: A Commentary</i>. Oxford University Press. pp. <span class="nowrap">122–</span>126. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780199691548" title="Special:BookSources/9780199691548"><bdi>9780199691548</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Kant%27s+Groundwork+for+the+Metaphysics+of+Morals%3A+A+Commentary&rft.pages=%3Cspan+class%3D%22nowrap%22%3E122-%3C%2Fspan%3E126&rft.pub=Oxford+University+Press&rft.date=2011-10-06&rft.isbn=9780199691548&rft.aulast=Allison&rft.aufirst=Henry+E.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGroundwork+of+the+Metaphysics+of+Morals" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:1-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:1_9-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_9-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Groundwork</i> 4:400</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:2-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:2_11-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:2_11-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Groundwork</i> 4:402</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:3-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:3_12-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:3_12-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Groundwork</i> 4:421</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:4-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:4_13-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:4_13-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Groundwork</i> 4:424</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Groundwork</i> 4:421n</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:5-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:5_15-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:5_15-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Groundwork</i> 4:428</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Groundwork</i> 4:429</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Groundwork</i> 4:432</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-18">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Groundwork</i> 4:446</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Groundwork</i> 4:447</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Groundwork</i> 4:449</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-21">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Groundwork</i> 4:450</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-22"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-22">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Groundwork</i> 4:453</span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&action=edit&section=29" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1235681985">.mw-parser-output .side-box{margin:4px 0;box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #aaa;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em;background-color:var(--background-color-interactive-subtle,#f8f9fa);display:flow-root}.mw-parser-output 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src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Speaker_Icon.svg/15px-Speaker_Icon.svg.png" decoding="async" width="15" height="15" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Speaker_Icon.svg/23px-Speaker_Icon.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Speaker_Icon.svg/30px-Speaker_Icon.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="500" data-file-height="500" /></span></span> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://librivox.org/search?title=The+Fundamental+Principles+of+the+Metaphysic+of+Morals&author=Kant&reader=&keywords=&genre_id=0&status=all&project_type=either&recorded_language=&sort_order=catalog_date&search_page=1&search_form=advanced"><i>The Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals</i></a> public domain audiobook at <a href="/wiki/LibriVox" title="LibriVox">LibriVox</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/authors/kant">Modified texts and modern "translations" for easier reading (always consult the original translated source texts first)</a></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFCuretonJohnson" class="citation encyclopaedia cs1">Cureton, Adam; Johnson, Robert. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-moral/">"Kant's Moral Philosophy"</a>. In <a href="/wiki/Edward_N._Zalta" title="Edward N. Zalta">Zalta, Edward N.</a> (ed.). <i><a href="/wiki/Stanford_Encyclopedia_of_Philosophy" title="Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy">Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy</a></i>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Kant%E2%80%99s+Moral+Philosophy&rft.btitle=Stanford+Encyclopedia+of+Philosophy&rft.aulast=Cureton&rft.aufirst=Adam&rft.au=Johnson%2C+Robert&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fplato.stanford.edu%2Fentries%2Fkant-moral%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGroundwork+of+the+Metaphysics+of+Morals" class="Z3988"></span></li></ul> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236075235">.mw-parser-output .navbox{box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #a2a9b1;width:100%;clear:both;font-size:88%;text-align:center;padding:1px;margin:1em auto 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox 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template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Ethics256" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Ethics" title="Ethics">Ethics</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Normative_ethics" title="Normative ethics">Normative</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Consequentialism" title="Consequentialism">Consequentialism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Deontological_ethics" class="mw-redirect" title="Deontological ethics">Deontology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ethics_of_care" title="Ethics of care">Care</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Moral_particularism" title="Moral particularism">Particularism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pragmatic_ethics" title="Pragmatic ethics">Pragmatic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Role_ethics" title="Role ethics">Role</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Suffering-focused_ethics" title="Suffering-focused ethics">Suffering-focused</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Utilitarianism" title="Utilitarianism">Utilitarianism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Virtue_ethics" title="Virtue ethics">Virtue</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Applied_ethics" title="Applied ethics">Applied</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Animal_ethics" title="Animal ethics">Animal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ethics_of_artificial_intelligence" title="Ethics of artificial intelligence">Artificial intelligence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bioethics" title="Bioethics">Bio</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Business_ethics" title="Business ethics">Business</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Computer_ethics" title="Computer ethics">Computer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Discourse_ethics" title="Discourse ethics">Discourse</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Engineering_ethics" title="Engineering ethics">Engineering</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Environmental_ethics" title="Environmental ethics">Environmental</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Land_ethic" title="Land ethic">Land</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Legal_ethics" title="Legal ethics">Legal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Machine_ethics" title="Machine ethics">Machine</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ethics_of_eating_meat" title="Ethics of eating meat">Meat eating</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Media_ethics" title="Media ethics">Media</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Medical_ethics" title="Medical ethics">Medical</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nursing_ethics" title="Nursing ethics">Nursing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Professional_ethics" title="Professional ethics">Professional</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Programming_ethics" title="Programming ethics">Programming</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Research_ethics" title="Research ethics">Research</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sexual_ethics" title="Sexual ethics">Sexual</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ethics_of_technology" title="Ethics of technology">Technology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ethics_of_terraforming" title="Ethics of terraforming">Terraforming</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ethics_of_uncertain_sentience" title="Ethics of uncertain sentience">Uncertain sentience</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Metaethics" title="Metaethics">Meta</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Moral_absolutism" title="Moral absolutism">Absolutism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Axiological_ethics" title="Axiological ethics">Axiology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cognitivism_(ethics)" title="Cognitivism (ethics)">Cognitivism</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Moral_realism" title="Moral realism">Realism</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Ethical_naturalism" title="Ethical naturalism">Naturalism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ethical_non-naturalism" title="Ethical non-naturalism">Non-naturalism</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ethical_subjectivism" title="Ethical subjectivism">Subjectivism</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Ideal_observer_theory" title="Ideal observer theory">Ideal observer theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Divine_command_theory" title="Divine command theory">Divine command theory</a></li></ul></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Moral_constructivism" title="Moral constructivism">Constructivism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Euthyphro_dilemma" title="Euthyphro dilemma">Euthyphro dilemma</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ethical_intuitionism" title="Ethical intuitionism">Intuitionism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Moral_nihilism" title="Moral nihilism">Nihilism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Non-cognitivism" title="Non-cognitivism">Non-cognitivism</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Emotivism" title="Emotivism">Emotivism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Expressivism" title="Expressivism">Expressivism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Quasi-realism" title="Quasi-realism">Quasi-realism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Universal_prescriptivism" title="Universal prescriptivism">Universal prescriptivism</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Moral_rationalism" title="Moral rationalism">Rationalism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Moral_relativism" title="Moral relativism">Relativism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Moral_skepticism" title="Moral skepticism">Skepticism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Moral_universalism" title="Moral universalism">Universalism</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Value_pluralism" title="Value pluralism">Value monism – Value pluralism</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Schools</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Buddhist_ethics" title="Buddhist ethics">Buddhist</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Christian_ethics" title="Christian ethics">Christian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Confucianism" title="Confucianism">Confucian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Epicureanism" title="Epicureanism">Epicurean</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Existentialism" title="Existentialism">Existentialist</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Feminist_ethics" title="Feminist ethics">Feminist</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Islamic_ethics" title="Islamic ethics">Islamic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jewish_ethics" title="Jewish ethics">Jewish</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kantian_ethics" title="Kantian ethics">Kantian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rousseauism" class="mw-redirect" title="Rousseauism">Rousseauian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Stoicism" title="Stoicism">Stoic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taoism" title="Taoism">Tao</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Concepts</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Authority" title="Authority">Authority</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Autonomy" title="Autonomy">Autonomy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Common_sense" title="Common sense">Common sense</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Compassion" title="Compassion">Compassion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Conscience" title="Conscience">Conscience</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Consent" title="Consent">Consent</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Culture_of_life" title="Culture of life">Culture of life</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dignity" title="Dignity">Dignity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Double_standard" title="Double standard">Double standard</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Duty" title="Duty">Duty</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Egalitarianism" title="Egalitarianism">Equality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Etiquette" title="Etiquette">Etiquette</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eudaimonia" title="Eudaimonia">Eudaimonia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Family_values" title="Family values">Family values</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fidelity" title="Fidelity">Fidelity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Free_will" title="Free will">Free will</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Good_and_evil" title="Good and evil">Good and evil</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Good" title="Good">Good</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Evil" title="Evil">Evil</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Problem_of_evil" title="Problem of evil">Problem of evil</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Greed" title="Greed">Greed</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Happiness" title="Happiness">Happiness</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Honour" title="Honour">Honour</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ideal_(ethics)" title="Ideal (ethics)">Ideal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Immorality" title="Immorality">Immorality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Justice" title="Justice">Justice</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Liberty" title="Liberty">Liberty</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Loyalty" title="Loyalty">Loyalty</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Moral_agency" title="Moral agency">Moral agency</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Moral_courage" title="Moral courage">Moral courage</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Moral_hierarchy" title="Moral hierarchy">Moral hierarchy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Moral_imperative" title="Moral imperative">Moral imperative</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Morality" title="Morality">Morality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Norm_(philosophy)" title="Norm (philosophy)">Norm</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pacifism" title="Pacifism">Pacifism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Political_freedom" title="Political freedom">Political freedom</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Precept" title="Precept">Precept</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rights" title="Rights">Rights</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Self-discipline" class="mw-redirect" title="Self-discipline">Self-discipline</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Suffering" title="Suffering">Suffering</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Stewardship" title="Stewardship">Stewardship</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sympathy" title="Sympathy">Sympathy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Theodicy" title="Theodicy">Theodicy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Torture" title="Torture">Torture</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trust_(social_science)" title="Trust (social science)">Trust</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Value_(ethics)" title="Value (ethics)">Value</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Intrinsic_value_(ethics)" title="Intrinsic value (ethics)">Intrinsic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Japanese_values" title="Japanese values">Japan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Values_(Western_philosophy)" class="mw-redirect" title="Values (Western philosophy)">Western</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vice" title="Vice">Vice</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Virtue" title="Virtue">Virtue</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vow" title="Vow">Vow</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wrongdoing" title="Wrongdoing">Wrong</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/List_of_ethicists" title="List of ethicists">Ethicists<br /></a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Laozi" title="Laozi">Laozi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Socrates" title="Socrates">Socrates</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Plato" title="Plato">Plato</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Aristotle" title="Aristotle">Aristotle</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Diogenes" title="Diogenes">Diogenes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Thiruvalluvar" title="Thiruvalluvar">Valluvar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cicero" title="Cicero">Cicero</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Confucius" title="Confucius">Confucius</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Augustine_of_Hippo" title="Augustine of Hippo">Augustine</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mencius" title="Mencius">Mencius</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mozi" title="Mozi">Mozi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xunzi_(philosopher)" title="Xunzi (philosopher)">Xunzi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Thomas_Aquinas" title="Thomas Aquinas">Aquinas</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Baruch_Spinoza" title="Baruch Spinoza">Spinoza</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Joseph_Butler" title="Joseph Butler">Butler</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/David_Hume" title="David Hume">Hume</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Adam_Smith" title="Adam Smith">Smith</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Immanuel_Kant" title="Immanuel Kant">Kant</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Georg_Wilhelm_Friedrich_Hegel" title="Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel">Hegel</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Arthur_Schopenhauer" title="Arthur Schopenhauer">Schopenhauer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jeremy_Bentham" title="Jeremy Bentham">Bentham</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_Stuart_Mill" title="John Stuart Mill">Mill</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/S%C3%B8ren_Kierkegaard" title="Søren Kierkegaard">Kierkegaard</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Henry_Sidgwick" title="Henry Sidgwick">Sidgwick</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche" title="Friedrich Nietzsche">Nietzsche</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/G._E._Moore" title="G. E. Moore">Moore</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Karl_Barth" title="Karl Barth">Barth</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Paul_Tillich" title="Paul Tillich">Tillich</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dietrich_Bonhoeffer" title="Dietrich Bonhoeffer">Bonhoeffer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Philippa_Foot" title="Philippa Foot">Foot</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_Rawls" title="John Rawls">Rawls</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_Dewey" title="John Dewey">Dewey</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bernard_Williams" title="Bernard Williams">Williams</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/J._L._Mackie" title="J. L. Mackie">Mackie</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/G._E._M._Anscombe" title="G. E. M. Anscombe">Anscombe</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/William_Frankena" title="William Frankena">Frankena</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alasdair_MacIntyre" title="Alasdair MacIntyre">MacIntyre</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/R._M._Hare" title="R. M. Hare">Hare</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Peter_Singer" title="Peter Singer">Singer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Derek_Parfit" title="Derek Parfit">Parfit</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Thomas_Nagel" title="Thomas Nagel">Nagel</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Robert_Merrihew_Adams" title="Robert Merrihew Adams">Adams</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Charles_Taylor_(philosopher)" title="Charles Taylor (philosopher)">Taylor</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Joxe_Azurmendi" title="Joxe Azurmendi">Azurmendi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Christine_Korsgaard" title="Christine Korsgaard">Korsgaard</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Martha_Nussbaum" title="Martha Nussbaum">Nussbaum</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Works</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0;font-style:italic;"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Nicomachean_Ethics" title="Nicomachean Ethics">Nicomachean Ethics</a> <span style="font-size:85%;">(c. 322 BC)</span></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ethics_(Spinoza_book)" class="mw-redirect" title="Ethics (Spinoza book)">Ethics (Spinoza)</a> <span style="font-size:85%;">(1677)</span></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fifteen_Sermons_Preached_at_the_Rolls_Chapel" title="Fifteen Sermons Preached at the Rolls Chapel">Fifteen Sermons Preached at the Rolls Chapel</a> <span style="font-size:85%;">(1726)</span></li> <li><a href="/wiki/A_Treatise_of_Human_Nature" title="A Treatise of Human Nature">A Treatise of Human Nature</a> <span style="font-size:85%;">(1740)</span></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Theory_of_Moral_Sentiments" title="The Theory of Moral Sentiments">The Theory of Moral Sentiments</a> <span style="font-size:85%;">(1759)</span></li> <li><a href="/wiki/An_Introduction_to_the_Principles_of_Morals_and_Legislation" title="An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation">An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation</a> <span style="font-size:85%;">(1780)</span></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals</a> <span style="font-size:85%;">(1785)</span></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Critique_of_Practical_Reason" title="Critique of Practical Reason">Critique of Practical Reason</a> <span style="font-size:85%;">(1788)</span></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Elements_of_the_Philosophy_of_Right" title="Elements of the Philosophy of Right">Elements of the Philosophy of Right</a> <span style="font-size:85%;">(1820)</span></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Either/Or_(Kierkegaard_book)" title="Either/Or (Kierkegaard book)">Either/Or</a> <span style="font-size:85%;">(1843)</span></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Utilitarianism_(book)" title="Utilitarianism (book)">Utilitarianism</a> <span style="font-size:85%;">(1861)</span></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Methods_of_Ethics" title="The Methods of Ethics">The Methods of Ethics</a> <span style="font-size:85%;">(1874)</span></li> <li><a href="/wiki/On_the_Genealogy_of_Morality" title="On the Genealogy of Morality">On the Genealogy of Morality</a> <span style="font-size:85%;">(1887)</span></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Principia_Ethica" title="Principia Ethica">Principia Ethica</a> <span style="font-size:85%;">(1903)</span></li> <li><a href="/wiki/A_Theory_of_Justice" title="A Theory of Justice">A Theory of Justice</a> <span style="font-size:85%;">(1971)</span></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Practical_Ethics" title="Practical Ethics">Practical Ethics</a> <span style="font-size:85%;">(1979)</span></li> <li><a href="/wiki/After_Virtue" title="After Virtue">After Virtue</a> <span style="font-size:85%;">(1981)</span></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Reasons_and_Persons" title="Reasons and Persons">Reasons and Persons</a> <span style="font-size:85%;">(1984)</span></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Related</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" 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href="https://www.nli.org.il/en/authorities/987007590323105171">Israel</a></span></li></ul></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Other</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"><ul><li><span class="uid"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.idref.fr/224885871">IdRef</a></span></li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">For an idea of what Kant means by the feeling of respect (<i>Achtung</i>), see the footnote in <i>Groundwork</i> 4:401 where he says that this feeling arises <i>a priori</i> through rational means. However, he also further elaborates what this feeling consists in within his other ethical writings. The most notable discussions are in the <i>Critique of Practical Reason</i> (5:71–5:76) and the <i>Metaphysics of Morals</i> (6:399–6:418)</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-23"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-23">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFNietzsche1895" class="citation book cs1">Nietzsche, Friedrich (1895). <i>The Antichrist</i>. pp. §11.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Antichrist&rft.pages=%C2%A711&rft.date=1895&rft.aulast=Nietzsche&rft.aufirst=Friedrich&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGroundwork+of+the+Metaphysics+of+Morals" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-24"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-24">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFSokoloff2006" class="citation journal cs1">Sokoloff, William W. (2006). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/3877079">"Nietzsche's Radicalization of Kant"</a>. <i>Polity</i>. <b>38</b> (4): 501–518.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Polity&rft.atitle=Nietzsche%E2%80%99s+Radicalization+of+Kant.&rft.volume=38&rft.issue=4&rft.pages=501-518.&rft.date=2006&rft.aulast=Sokoloff&rft.aufirst=William+W.&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fstable%2F3877079&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGroundwork+of+the+Metaphysics+of+Morals" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-25"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-25">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=Ijpj1tB3Qr0C&q=lEWIS+wHITE+bECK#v=snippet&q=lEWIS%20wHITE%20bECK&f=false"><i>Dictionary of Modern American Philosphers</i>. Shook, John R. Ed. Thoemmes Continuum, Bristol, 2005 p. 166 ISBN 9781843710370 Lewis White Beck on Google Books</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Shook20160211-26"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Shook20160211_26-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFShook2016" class="citation book cs1">Shook, John R., ed. (February 11, 2016). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=UlQ0CwAAQBAJ"><i>The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Philosophers in America: From 1600 to the Present</i></a>. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. <span class="nowrap">71–</span>72. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4725-7054-3" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-4725-7054-3"><bdi>978-1-4725-7054-3</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Bloomsbury+Encyclopedia+of+Philosophers+in+America%3A+From+1600+to+the+Present&rft.place=London&rft.pages=%3Cspan+class%3D%22nowrap%22%3E71-%3C%2Fspan%3E72&rft.pub=Bloomsbury+Publishing&rft.date=2016-02-11&rft.isbn=978-1-4725-7054-3&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DUlQ0CwAAQBAJ&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AGroundwork+of+the+Metaphysics+of+Morals" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-27"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-27">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/lewis-white-beck-a-commentary-on-kants-critique-of-practical-reason/mode/2up"><i>A Commentary on Kant's Critique of Practical Reason</i> Beck, Lewis White. The University of Chicago Press, London, 1960, p. v–viii (Foreword) on archive.org</a></span> </li> </ol></div>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?useformat=desktop&type=1x1&usesul3=0" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&oldid=1253024854">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Groundwork_of_the_Metaphysics_of_Morals&oldid=1253024854</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Help:Category" title="Help:Category">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:1785_non-fiction_books" title="Category:1785 non-fiction books">1785 non-fiction books</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Books_by_Immanuel_Kant" title="Category:Books by Immanuel Kant">Books by Immanuel Kant</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Enlightenment_philosophy" title="Category:Enlightenment philosophy">Enlightenment philosophy</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Ethics_books" title="Category:Ethics books">Ethics books</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:German_non-fiction_books" title="Category:German non-fiction books">German non-fiction books</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Metaphysics_books" title="Category:Metaphysics books">Metaphysics books</a></li></ul></div><div id="mw-hidden-catlinks" class="mw-hidden-catlinks mw-hidden-cats-hidden">Hidden categories: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_short_description" title="Category:Articles with short description">Articles with short description</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Short_description_matches_Wikidata" title="Category:Short description matches Wikidata">Short description matches Wikidata</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_needing_additional_references_from_June_2023" title="Category:Articles needing additional references from June 2023">Articles needing additional references from June 2023</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:All_articles_needing_additional_references" title="Category:All articles needing additional references">All articles needing additional references</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_containing_German-language_text" title="Category:Articles containing German-language text">Articles containing German-language text</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:All_articles_with_unsourced_statements" title="Category:All articles with unsourced statements">All articles with unsourced statements</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_unsourced_statements_from_September_2020" title="Category:Articles with unsourced statements from September 2020">Articles with unsourced statements from September 2020</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_unsourced_statements_from_January_2022" title="Category:Articles with unsourced statements from January 2022">Articles with unsourced statements from January 2022</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_unsourced_statements_from_July_2020" title="Category:Articles with unsourced statements from July 2020">Articles with unsourced statements from July 2020</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Commons_link_is_the_pagename" title="Category:Commons link is the pagename">Commons link is the pagename</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_LibriVox_links" title="Category:Articles with LibriVox links">Articles with LibriVox links</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> </main> </div> <div class="mw-footer-container"> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" > <ul id="footer-info"> <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 24 October 2024, at 00:36<span class="anonymous-show"> (UTC)</span>.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Text is available under the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_4.0_International_License" title="Wikipedia:Text of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License</a>; additional terms may apply. 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