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Categorical Imperative: Foundations Of The Metaphysics Of Moral

692 Words3 Pages

Valerie Delucca

4/22/16

Categorical Imperative

Immanuel Kant was a famous 18th century philosopher who is considered by many the model or central figurehead of modern philosophy. Perhaps his most profound work is the “Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals,” one of the first in which he discussed moral philosophy. Within this work, Kant suggests that morality and moral law stem from rationality and reason and therefore, any reasonable being would not need religion to live morally. He also writes that moral law is constructed of categorical imperatives that we all must carry out regardless of our wants and desires. Kant asserts that the implications for following these categorical imperatives are based upon the motivations behind our actions …show more content…

Not only does this apply to how we treat others, but how we treat ourselves as well. Kant uses the example of a person who contemplates suicide. He writes that, “if he destroys himself in order to escape from painful circumstances, he uses a person merely as a means to maintain a tolerable condition up to the end of life.” He elaborates further and states that committing suicide conflicts with the end-in-itself principle because man must always, in his actions, be considered as an “end in himself” (374). With regard to the treatment of others, we must act as though we have a strict obligation to treat others how we would want to be treated. This is why, according to Kant, we must avoid making false promises and violating another person's freedom and …show more content…

One must obey these commands in all situations regardless of wants and desires. Under the categorical imperative, actions are genuinely right if they are undertaken for the sake of duty alone. Kant wrote that everyone belonging to the kingdom has duties or specific obligations of a good will that are either perfect or imperfect. Perfect duties are those that must be followed without any exceptions. Kant lists these perfect duties as do not tell a lie, do not kill yourself, and do not break a promise. The imperfect duties do not always have to be followed and they will have exceptions. A few of these imperfect duties include develop your talents and help others in

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