Kants Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Moral

Kant s Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Moral The central concept of Kant s Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals is the categorical imperative. The conception of an objective principle, in so far as it is obligatory for a will, is called a command (of reason), and the formula of the command is called an Imperative. (Abbott, 30) An imperative is something that a will ought or shall do because the will is obligated to act in the manner in which it conforms with moral law. The categorical imperative is an obligation by the will to act so that the action can be classified as a universal law. When one acts in conformity with the universal law at all times, they are following out the categorical†¦show more content†¦The action of killing oneself would cause pain, which is not in conformity to the maxim stated to avoid pain. The second example Kant gives is based on the basic premise of lying. A man is forced to borrow money which he knows he will never be able to repay but he promises to do so anyway. This action is not consistent with duty and the maxim could be expressed as: When I [the man] think myself in want of money, I will borrow money and promise to repay it, although I know that I never can do so.(Abbott, 39) The maxim cannot hold as a universal law because if everyone lied about promises, the promise itself would become impossible, and the end would be unattainable. Telling the truth is an end in itself. The third example is of a man who it bestowed a natural ability but does not use it to it s full extent. Kant sees this as not a categorical imperative because a rational being necessarily wills that he develop his skills for many possible reasons. Rational beings are an end in themselves, and if you do not better yourself, you are not serving yourself.(Abbott, 40) Lastly, the fourth man, in great prosperity, has a chance to help others in need and does not. This can be viewed as a workable universal law, but it cannot be willed as the good thing to doShow MoreRelatedAnalysis of Immanuel Kants Arguements in The Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals†542 Words   |  3 PagesIn the essay titled â€Å"Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals† published in the Morality and Moral Controversies course textbook, Immanuel Kant argues that the view of the world and its laws is structured by human concepts and categories, and the rationale of it is the source of morality which depends upon belief in the existence of God. In Kant’s work, categorical imperative was established in order to have a standard rationale from where all moral requirements derive. 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