Kant's Ethics: Rationality and Treating People as Ends

Kant's Text

Author and Historical Context

Written in 1785, Immanuel Kant, a key figure of the Enlightenment, cautioned against using individuals as means to an end. This period marked a transition, exemplified by the French Revolution, which Kant observed with cautious admiration. He warned against actions leading to irrationality, such as the revolutionary Terror.

Theme

The core theme is that rational actions treat people as ends in themselves, not as tools. This distinction arises from a person's capacity for reason, granting them dignity that only other rational beings can recognize.

Key Ideas

• Humans are ends in themselves, not means to an end.
• Conditional inclinations have relative worth.
• Inclinations lack intrinsic value; rationality prefers self-sufficiency.
• Rational beings possess intrinsic value, unlike objects with relative value based on desire.

Explanation of Ideas

These ideas form the basis of Kant's formal ethics, derived from the practical use of reason. Kantian ethics avoids defining happiness empirically, focusing instead on the rationality of actions. Rational actions adhere to the categorical imperative: Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.

Respect is crucial in Kantian ethics, stemming from practical reason that unites rational beings. This respect extends to oneself, manifesting as virtue. Practical reason, like theoretical reason, postulates the three ideas of metaphysics (free and immortal self, the world, and God) as necessary presuppositions for a rational understanding of the world, implying a deeper reality beyond appearances.