Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
1785 · Immanuel Kant
Core ideas
- Only a good will is good without qualification.
- Act only on maxims you could will as universal laws.
- Treat people always as ends, never merely as means.
- Morality flows from the autonomy of rational agents.
Summary
Kant seeks the supreme principle of morality and locates it in reason rather than consequences or feelings. A good will, he argues, is good not for what it achieves but in itself. Moral worth lies in acting from duty — from respect for the moral law — not from inclination.
That law is the categorical imperative: act only on a maxim you could will to become a universal law, and always treat humanity, in yourself and others, never merely as a means but always also as an end. Because rational beings give this law to themselves, morality is grounded in autonomy, and to be moral is to be genuinely free.