Immanuel Kant's Groundwork For The Metaphysic Of Moral

In Immanuel Kant’s Groundwork for the Metaphysic of Morals, Kant talks about the terms “acting from duty” and “acting according to duty” (8-10). Chapter one, “Moving from common-sense knowledge to philosophical knowledge about morality” goes much more in depth in talking about the differences between acting from duty, and acting according to duty.
In class, we talk a lot about how Kant uses the phrase “One should”. We know that phrase translates to actually doing what ever actions someone is asking you to do(8e). If someone is telling you “you should take out the trash” you know they are actually telling you to take out the trash and you should just do what they ask. Kant believes it is everyone’s duty to do good in life, meaning one should do the right thing(8b). “I will connect Kant’s definition of duty to the guiding question “How do we form conclusions about what is right and wrong, good and

Many people love to give back for many different reasons. In this situation if you were acting according to duty you many say “I will help people because I like helping people.” Kant thinks that this is how you personally would want to deal with the situation. You enjoy the satisfaction of making others happy and you want to make a difference in the world(8d). You like helping people and making them happy, so by acting according to duty, you are doing what you want to make a difference in someone’s life(8b). On the other hand, if you were acting from duty, you may say “I will help people because I know I should help people.” As we know, “should” means do it. It this situation it is almost as if you may feel like you are forcing yourself to do something because you know you should and it will benefit someone else. Even though you may not want to donate to charity, you know you are supposed to because it is the right thing to do and you should always do the right thing, even if it does not benefit you in any