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Fundamental Principles Of The Metaphysic Of Morals

By Immanuel Kant

Immanuel Kant's Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals seeks the supreme principle of morality in reason rather than experience or consequences. Beginning with good will and duty, Kant develops the categorical imperative through universal law, humanity as an end, autonomy and the kingdom of ends. The final section connects moral obligation with freedom and the standpoint of rational agency. This 1785 work, presented here in T. K. Abbott's public-domain translation, is a foundational statement of deontological ethics.

Translator or editor
T. K. Abbott
Publication
1785; Abbott translation published 1873
Genre
Deontological ethics; moral philosophy
Era
Enlightenment, Modern Philosophy

About this work

First published in 1785, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals investigates the supreme principle of morality. Kant argues that moral law must arise from reason and possess universal necessity rather than depend upon changing desires or predicted consequences. The work begins with good will, the only thing Kant regards as good without qualification. Under human conditions, good will appears as duty: action motivated by respect for moral law. Kant develops the categorical imperative, which commands unconditionally. Its formulations require agents to will universal laws, treat humanity always as an end and never merely as a means, and understand rational wills as autonomous legislators in a kingdom of ends. Examples involving false promises, self-destruction, neglected abilities and refusal to help show how universalisation is intended to identify both strict and wider duties. The final section connects morality with freedom. Rational agents must act under the idea that they are free, even though their actions also appear within the causal order of nature. The result is a foundational study of duty, dignity, autonomy and moral responsibility.

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