Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals PDF by Immanuel Kant

CAMBRIDGE TEXTS IN THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY Series editors KARL AMERIKS Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame DESMOND M. CLARK...

CAMBRIDGE TEXTS IN THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY Series editors KARL AMERIKS Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame DESMOND M. CLARKE Professor of Philosophy at University College Cork The main objective of Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy is to expand the range, variety and quality of texts in the history of philosophy which are avail- able in English. The series includes texts by familiar names (such as Descartes and Kant) and also by less well-known authors. Wherever possible, texts are published in complete and unabridged form, and translations are specially commissioned for the series. Each volume contains a critical introduction together with a guide to further reading and any necessary glossaries and textual apparatus. The volumes are designed for student use at undergraduate and postgraduate level and will be of interest not only to students of philosophy but also to a wider audience of readers in the history of science, the history of theology and the history of ideas. For a list of titles published in the series, please see end of book.  IMMANUEL KANT Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY MARY GREGOR WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY CHRISTINE M. KORSGAARD Harvard University CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, vie 3207, Australia Ruiz de Alarcon 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa http://www.cambridge.org © Cambridge University Press 1997 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 1998 Eleventh printing 2006 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge Typeset in 10/12 Ehrhardt A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Kant, Immanuel, 1724-1804. [Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten. English] Groundwork of the metaphysics of morals/Immanuel Kant; translated and edited by Mary Gregor; with an introduction by Christine M. Korsgaard. p. cm. - (Cambridge texts in the history of philosophy) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0 521 62235 2 (hardback). - ISBN 0 521 62695 l (paperback) 1. Ethics. - Early works to 1800. I. Gregor, Mary J. II. Title. III. Series. B2766.E6G7 1998 I7o-dc2i 97-30153 CIP ISBN o 521 62235 2 hardback ISBN o 521 62695 1 paperback  GROUNDWORK OF THE METAPHYSICS OF MORALS morals on their genuine principles even for common and practical use, especially that of moral instruction, and thereby to bring about pure moral dispositions and engraft them onto people's minds for the highest good in the world.m However, in order to advance by natural steps in this study - not merely from common moral appraisal (which is here very worthy of re- spect) to philosophic, as has already been done, but - from a popular philosophy, which goes no further than it can by groping with the help of examples, to metaphysics (which no longer lets itself be held back by anything empirical and, since it must measure out the whole sum of rational cognition of this kind, goes if need be all the way to ideas, where examples themselves fail us), we must follow and present distinctly the practical faculty of reason, from its general rules of determination to the point where the concept of duty arises from it. Everything in nature works in accordance with laws. Only a rational being has the capacity to act in accordance with the representation of laws, that is, in accordance with principles, or has a will. Since reason is re- quired for the derivation of actions from laws, the will is nothing other than practical reason. If reason infallibly determines the will, the actions of such a being that are cognized as objectively necessary are also subjec- tively necessary, that is, the will is a capacity to choose only that which reason independently of inclination cognizes as practically necessary, that is, as good. However, if reason solely by itself does not adequately deter- mine the will; if the will is exposed" also to subjective conditions (certain incentives) that are not always in accord with the objective ones; in a word, 4:413 if the will is not in /ft^f completely in conformity with reason (as is actually the case with human beings), then actions that are cognized as objectively necessary are subjectively contingent, and the determination of such a will in conformity with objective laws is necessitation: that is to say, the relation of objective laws to a will that is not thoroughly good is represented as the determination of the will of a rational being through grounds of reason, indeed, but grounds to which this will is not by its nature necessarily obedient. The representation of an objective principle, insofar as it is necessitat- ing for a will, is called a command (of reason), and the formula of the command is called an imperative. All imperatives are expressed by an ought and indicate by this the relation of an objective law of reason to a will that by its subjective constitution is not necessarily determined by it (a necessitation). They say that to do or to omit something would be good, but they say it to a will that does not always do something just because it is represented to it that it m zutn hochsten Weltbesten n unterworfen 24  FROM POPULAR PHILOSOPHY TO METAPHYSICS would be good to do that thing. Practical good, however, is that which determines the will by means of representations of reason, hence not by subjective causes but objectively, that is, from grounds that are valid for every rational being as such. It is distinguished from the agreeable, as that which influences the will only by means of feeling0 from merely subjective causes, which hold only for the senses of this or that one, and not as a principle of reason, which holds for everyone.# A perfectly good will would, therefore, equally stand under objective 4:414 laws (of the good), but it could not on this account be represented as necessitated to actions in conformity with law since of itself, by its subjective constitution, it can be determined only through the representation of the good. Hence no imperatives hold for the divine will and in general for a holy will: the "ought" is out of place here, because volition^ is of itself necessarily in accord with the law. Therefore imperatives are only formu- lae expressing the relation of objective laws of volition in general to the subjective imperfection of the will of this or that rational being, for exam- ple, of the human will. Now, all imperatives command either hypothetically or categorically. The former represent the practical necessity of a possible action as a means to achieving something else that one wills (or that it is at least possible for one to will). The categorical imperative would be that which represented an action as objectively necessary of itself, without reference to another end. Since every practical law represents a possible action as good and thus as necessary for a subject practically determinable by reason, all impera- tives are formulae for the determination of action that is necessary in accordance with the principle of a will which is good in some way. Now, if the action would be good merely as a means to something else the impera- tive is hypothetical; if the action is represented as in itself good, hence as necessary in a will in itself conforming to reason, as its principle, then it is categorical T h e dependence of the faculty of desire upon feelings is called inclination, and this accordingly always indicates a need. The dependence of a contingendy determinable will on principles of reason, however, is called an interest. This, accordingly, is present only in the case of a dependent will, which is not of itself always in conformity with reason; in the case of the divine will we cannot think of any interest. But even the human will can take an interest in something without therefore acting from interest. The first signifies practical interest in the action, the second, pathological interest in the object of the action. The former indicates only dependence of the will upon principles of reason in themselves; the second, dependence upon principles of reason for the sake of inclination, namely where reason supplies only the practical rule as to how to remedy the need of inclination. In the first case the action interests me; in the second, the object of the action (insofar as it is agreeable to me). We have seen in the first section that in the case of an action from duty we must look not to interest in the object but merely to that in the action itself and its principle in reason (the law). 0 Empfindung p das Sollen... das Wollen 25  GROUNDWORK OF THE METAPHYSICS OF MORALS The imperative thus says which action possible by me would be good, and represents a practical rule in relation to a will that does not straight- away do an action just because it is good, partly because the subject does not always know that it is good, partly because, even if he knows this, his maxims could still be opposed to the objective principles of a practical reason. Hence the hypothetical imperative says only that the action is good for 4:415 some possible or actual purpose. In the first case it is a problematically practical principle, in the second an assertorically practical principle. The categorical imperative, which declares the action to be of itself objec- tively necessary without reference to some purpose, that is, even apart from any other end, holds as an apodictically practical principle. One can think of what is possible only through the powers of some rational being as also a possible purpose of some will; accordingly, princi- ples of action, insofar as this is represented as necessary for attaining some possible purpose to be brought about by it, are in fact innumerable. All sciences have some practical part, consisting of problems [which sup- pose] that some end is possible for us and of imperatives as to how it can be attained. These can therefore be called, in general, imperatives of skill. Whether the end is rational and good is not at all the question here, but only what one must do in order to attain it. The precepts for a physician to make his man healthy in a well-grounded way, and for a poisoner to be sure of killing his, are of equal worth insofar as each serves perfectly to bring about his purpose. Since in early youth it is not known what ends might occur to us in the course of life, parents seek above all to have their children learn a great many things and to provide for skill in the use of means to all sorts of discretionary ends/ about none of which can they determine whether it might in the future actually become their pu- pil's purpose, though it is always possible that he might at some time have it; and this concern is so great that they commonly neglect to form and correct their children's judgment about the worth of the things that they might make their ends. There is, however, one end that can be presupposed as actual in the case of all rational beings (insofar as imperatives apply to them, namely as dependent beings), and therefore one purpose that they not merely could have but that we can safely presuppose they all actually do have by a natural necessity, and that purpose is happiness. The hypothetical impera- tive that represents the practical necessity of an action as a means to the promotion of happiness is assertoric. It may be set forth not merely as necessary to some uncertain, merely possible purpose but to a purpose that can be presupposed surely and a priori in the case of every human 4:416 being, because it belongs to his essence. Now, skill in the choice of means q beliebigen Zwecken 26  FROM POPULAR PHILOSOPHY TO METAPHYSICS to one's own greatest well-being can be called prudence* in the narrowest sense. Hence the imperative that refers to the choice of means to one's own happiness, that is, the precept of prudence, is still always hypothetical; the action is not commanded absolutely but only as a means to another purpose. Finally there is one imperative that, without being based upon and having as its conditionr any other purpose to be attained by certain con- duct, commands this conduct immediately. This imperative is categori- cal. It has to do not with the matter of the action and what is to result from it, but with the form and the principle from which the action itself follows; and the essentially good in the action' consists in the disposition, let the result be what it may. This imperative may be called the imperative of morality. Volition in accordance with these three kinds of principles is also clearly distinguished by dissimilarity1 in the necessitation of the will. In order to make this dissimilarity evident, I think they would be most suit- ably named in their order by being said to be either rules of skill, or counsels of prudence, or commands (lams) of morality. For, only law brings with it the concept of an unconditional and objective and hence universally valid necessity, and commands are laws that must be obeyed, that is, must be followed even against inclination. Giving counsel does involve necessity, which, however, can hold only under a subjective and contingent condi- tion, whether this or that man counts this or that in his happiness; the categorical imperative, on the contrary, is limited by no condition and, as absolutely although practically necessary, can be called quite strictly a command. The first imperative could also be called technical (belonging to art), the second pragmatic* (belonging to welfare), the third moral (belong- 4:417 ing to free conduct as such, that is, to morals). Now the question arises: how are all these imperatives possible? This question does not inquire how the performance of the action that the *The word "prudence" is taken in two senses: in the one it may bear the name of "knowl- edge of the world, "s in the other that of "private prudence." The first is a human being's skill in influencing others so as to use them for his own purposes. The second is the insight to unite all these purposes to his own enduring advantage. The latter is properly that to which the worth even of the former is reduced, and if someone is prudent in the first sense but not in the second, we might better say of him that he is clever and cunning but, on the whole, nevertheless imprudent. tit seems to me that the proper meaning of the word pragmatic can be most accurately determined in this way. For sanctions are called "pragmatic" that do not flow strictly from the right of states as necessary laws but from provision for the general welfare. A history is composed pragmatically when it makes us prudent, that is, instructs the world how it can look after its advantage better than, or at least as well as, the world of earlier times. r als Bedingung zum Grunde zu legen s das Wesentlich-Gute derselben ' Ungleichheit 27  GROUNDWORK OF THE METAPHYSICS OF MORALS imperative commands can be thought, but only how the necessitation of the will, which the imperative expresses in the problem, can be thought. How an imperative of skill is possible requires no special discussion. Whoever wills the end also wills (insofar as reason has decisive influence on his actions) the indispensably necessary means to it that are within his power. This proposition is, as regards the volition, analytic; for in the volition of an object as my effect, my causality as acting cause, that is, the use of means, is already thought, and the imperative extracts the concept of actions necessary to this end merely from the concept of a volition of this end (synthetic propositions no doubt belong to determining the means themselves to a purpose intended, but they do not have to do with the ground for actualizing" the act of will but for actualizing the object). That in order to divide a line into two equal parts on a sure principle I must make two intersecting arcs from its ends, mathematics admittedly teaches only by synthetic propositions; but when I know that only by such an action can the proposed effect take place, then it is an analytic proposi- tion that if I fully1" will the effect I also will the action requisite to it; for, it is one and the same thing to represent something as an effect possible by me in a certain way and to represent myself as acting in this way with respect to it. If only it were as easy to give a determinate concept of happiness, imperatives of prudence would agree entirely with those of skill and would be just as87 analytic. For it could be said, here just as there: who wills the end also wills (necessarily in conformity with reason) the sole means to it 4:418 that are within his control. But it is a misfortune that the concept of happiness is such an indeterminate concept that, although every human being wishes to attain this, he can still never say determinately and consis- tently with himself what he really wishes and wills. The cause of this is that all the elements that belong to the concept of happiness are without exception empirical, that is, they must be borrowed from experience, and that nevertheless for the idea of happiness there is required an absolute whole, a maximum of well-being in my present condition and in every future condition. Now, it is impossible for the most insightful and at the same time most powerful but still finite being to frame for himself a determinate concept of what he really wills here. If he wills riches, how much anxiety, envy and intrigue might he not bring upon himself in this way! If he wills a great deal of cognition and insight, that might become only an eye all the more acute to show him, as all the more dreadful, ills that are now concealed from him and that cannot be avoided, or to burden " wirklich zu machen 0 vollstdndig w eben sorvohl 28  FROM POPULAR PHILOSOPHY TO METAPHYSICS his desires/ which already give him enough to do, with still more needs. If he wills a long life, who will guarantee him that it would not be a long misery? If he at least wills health, how often has not bodily discomfort kept someone from excesses into which unlimited health would have let him fall, and so forth. In short, he is not capable of any principle by which to determine with complete certainty what would make him truly happy, because for this omniscience would be required. One cannot therefore act on determinate principles for the sake of being happy, but only on empiri- cal counsels, for example, of a regimen/ frugality, courtesy, reserve and so forth, which experience teaches are most conducive to well-being on the average. From this it follows that imperatives of prudence cannot, to speak precisely, command at all, that is, present actions objectively as practically necessary; that they are to be taken as counsels (consilia) rather than as commands (praecepta) of reason; that the problem of determining surely and universally which action would promote the happiness of a rational being is completely insoluble, so that there can be no imperative with respect to it that would, in the strict sense, command him to do what would make him happy; for happiness is not an ideal of reason but of imagination, resting merely upon empirical grounds, which it is futile to expect should determine an action by which the totality of a series of 4:419 results in fact infinite would be attained. This imperative of prudence would, nevertheless, be an analytic practical proposition if it is supposed that the means to happiness can be assigned with certainty; for it is distinguished from the imperative of skill only in this: that in the case of the latter the end is merely possible, whereas in the former it is given; but since both merely command the means to what it is presupposed one wills as an end, the imperative that commands volition of the means for him who wills the end is in both cases analytic. Hence there is also no difficulty with respect to the possibility of such an imperative. On the other hand, the question of how the imperative of morality is possible is undoubtedly the only one needing a solution, since it is in no way hypothetical and the objectively represented necessity can therefore not be based on any presupposition, as in the case of hypothetical impera- tives. Only we must never leave out of account, here, that it cannot be made out by means ofany example, and so empirically, whether there is any such imperative at all, but it is rather to be feared that all imperatives which seem to be categorical may yet in some hidden way be hypothetical. For example, when it is said "you ought not to promise anything deceit- fully," and one assumes that the necessity of this omission is not giving x Begierden. According to The Metaphysics of Morals (6:212), Begierde must always be preceded by a feeling of pleasure. y Didt 29  GROUNDWORK OF THE METAPHYSICS OF MORALS counsel for avoiding some other ill - in which case what is said would be "you ought not to make a lying promise lest if it comes to light you destroy your credit" — but that an action of this kind must be regarded as in itself evil and that the imperative of prohibition is therefore categorical: one still cannot show with certainty in any example that the will is here determined merely through the law, without another incentive, although it seems to be so; for it is always possible that covert fear of disgrace, perhaps also obscure apprehension of other dangers, may have had an influence on the will. Who can prove by experience the nonexistence of a cause when all that experience teaches is that we do not perceive it? In such a case, however, the so-called moral imperative, which as such appears to be categorical and unconditional, would in fact be only a pragmatic precept that makes us attentive to our advantage and merely teaches us to take this into consideration. We shall thus have to investigate entirely a priori the possibility of a 4:420 categorical imperative, since we do not here have the advantage of its reality being given in experience, so that the possibility would be neces- sary not to establish it but merely to explain it.2 In the meantime, how- ever, we can see this much: that the categorical imperative alone has the tenor oP a practical law; all the others can indeed be called principles of the will but not laws, since what it is necessary to do merely for achiev- ing a discretionary purpose can be regarded as in itself contingent and we can always be released from the precept if we give up the purpose; on the contrary, the unconditional command leaves the will no discre- tion* with respect to the opposite, so that it alone brings with it that necessity which we require of a law. Second, in the case of this categorical imperative or law of morality the ground of the difficulty (of insight into its possibility) is also very great. It is an a priori synthetic practical proposition;* and since it is so difficult to see the possibility of this kind of proposition in theoretical cognition, it can be readily gathered that the difficulty will be no less in practical cognition. In this task we want first to inquire whether the mere concept of a categorical imperative may not also provide its formula containing the *I connect the deed with the will, without a presupposed condition from any inclination, a priori and hence necessarily (though only objectively, i.e., under the idea of a reason having complete control over all subjective motives)/ This is, therefore, a practical proposition that does not derive the volition of an action analytically from another volition already presup- posed (for we have no such perfect will), but connects it immediately with the concept of the will of a rational being as something that is not contained in it. z und also die Moglichkeit nicht zur Festsetzung, sondern bloss zur Erkldrung notig ware a als... laute b dem Willen kein Belieben... frei Idfit c Bewegursachen 30  FROM POPULAR PHILOSOPHY TO METAPHYSICS proposition which alone can be a categorical imperative. For, how such an absolute command is possible, even if we know its tenor, will still require special and difficult toil, which, however, we postpone to the last section. When I think of a hypothetical imperative in general I do not know beforehand what it will contain; I do not know this until I am given the condition. But when I think of a categorical imperative I know at once what it contains. For, since the imperative contains, beyond the law, only the necessity that the maxim* be in conformity with this law, while the law 4:421 contains no condition to which it would be limited, nothing is left with which the maxim of action is to conform but the universality of a law as such; and this conformity alone is what the imperative properly represents as necessary. There is, therefore, only a single categorical imperative and it is this: act only in accordance with that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it become a universal law. Now, if all imperatives of duty can be derived from this single impera- tive as from their principle, then, even though we leave it undecided whether what is called duty is not as such an empty concept, we shall at least be able to show what we think by it and what the concept wants to say. Since the universality of law in accordance with which effects take place constitutes what is properly called nature in the most general sense (as regards its form) - that is, the existence of things insofar as it is determined in accordance with universal laws - the universal imperative of duty can also go as follows: act as if the maxim of your action were to become by your will a universal law of nature. We shall now enumerate a few duties in accordance with the usual division of them into duties to ourselves and to other human beings and into perfect and imperfect duties.* 1) Someone feels sick of life because of a series of troubles that has grown to the point of despair, but is still so far in possession of his reason 4:422 that he can ask himself whether it would not be contrary to his duty to *A maxim is the subjective principle of acting, and must be distinguished from the objective principle, namely the practical law. The former contains the practical rule determined by reason conformably with the conditions of the subject (often his ignorance or also his inclinations), and is therefore the principle in accordance with which the subject acts; but the law is the objective principle valid for every rational being, and the principle in accordance with which he ought to act, i.e., an imperative. +It must be noted here that I reserve the division of duties entirely for a future Metaphysics of Morals, so that the division here stands only as one adopted at my discretion (for the sake of arranging my examples). For the rest, I understand here by a perfect duty one that admits no exception in favor of inclination, and then I have not merely external but also internal perfect duties; although this is contrary to the use of the word adopted in the schools, I do not intend to justify it here, since for my purpose it makes no difference whether or not it is granted me. 31  GROUNDWORK OF THE METAPHYSICS OF MORALS himself to take his own life. Now he inquires whether the maxim of his action could indeed become a universal law of nature. His maxim, how- ever, is: from self-love I make it my principle to shorten my life when its longer duration threatens more troubles than it promises agreeableness. The only further question is whether this principle of self-love could become a universal law of nature. It is then seen at once that a nature whose law it would be to destroy life itself by means of the same feeling whose destination^ is to impel toward the furtherance of life would contra- dict itself and would therefore not subsist* as nature; thus that maxim could not possibly be a law of nature and, accordingly, altogether opposes the supreme principle of all duty. 2) Another finds himself urged by need to borrow money. He well knows that he will not be able to repay it but sees also that nothing will be lent him unless he promises firmly to repay it within a determinate time. He would like to make such a promise, but he still has enough conscience to ask himself: is it not forbidden and contrary to duty to help oneself out of need in such a way? Supposing that he still decided to do so, his maxim of action would go as follows: when I believe myself to be in need of money I shall borrow money and promise to repay it, even though I know that this will never happen. Now this principle of self-love or personal advantage is perhaps quite consistent with my whole future welfare, but the question now is whether it is right. I therefore turn the demand of self-love into a universal law and put the question as follows: how would it be if my maxim became a universal law? I then see at once that it could never hold as a universal law of nature and be consistent with itself, but must necessarily contradict itself. For, the universality of a law that every- one, when he believes himself to be in need, could promise whatever he pleases with the intention of not keeping it would make the promise and the end one might have in it itself impossible, since no one would believe what was promised him but would laugh at all such expressions as vain pretenses. 3) A third finds in himself a talent that by means of some cultivation 4:423 could make him a human being useful for all sorts of purposes. However, he finds himself in comfortable circumstances and prefers to give himself up to pleasure than to trouble himself with enlarging and improving his fortunate natural predispositions/ But he still asks himself whether his maxim of neglecting his natural gifts, besides being consistent with his propensity to amusement, is also consistent with what one calls duty. He now sees that a nature could indeed always subsist with such a universal law, although (as with the South Sea Islanders) the human being should d Bestimmung e bestehen f Naturanlagen 32  FROM POPULAR PHILOSOPHY TO METAPHYSICS let his talents rust and be concerned with devoting his life merely to idleness, amusement, procreation - in a word, to enjoyment; only he can- not possibly will that this become a universal law or be put in us as such by means of natural instinct. For, as a rational being he necessarily wills that all the capacities in him be developed, since they serve him and are given to him for all sorts of possible purposes. Yet a fourth, for whom things are going well while he sees that others (whom he could very well help) have to contend with great hardships, thinks: what is it to me? let each be as happy as heaven wills or as he can make himself; I shall take nothing from him nor even envy him; only I do not care to contribute anything to his welfare or to his assistance in need! Now, if such a way of thinking were to become a universal law the human race could admittedly very well subsist, no doubt even better than when everyone prates about sympathy and benevolence and even exerts himself to practice them occasionally, but on the other hand also cheats where he can, sells the right of human beings or otherwise infringes upon it. But although it is possible that a universal law of nature could very well subsist in accordance with such a maxim, it is still impossible to will that such a principle hold everywhere as a law of nature. For, a will that decided this would conflict with itself, since many cases could occur in which one would need the love and sympathy^ of others and in which, by such a law of nature arisen from his own will, he would rob himself of all hope of the assistance he wishes for himself. These are a few of the many actual duties, or at least of what we take to be such, whose derivation^ from the one principle cited above is clear. We 4:424 must be able to will that a maxim of our action become a universal law: this is the canon of moral appraisal of action in general. Some actions are so constituted that their maxim cannot even be thought without contradiction as a universal law of nature, far less could one will that it should become such. In the case of others that inner impossibility is indeed not to be found, but it is still impossible to will that their maxim be raised to the universality of a law of nature because such a will would contradict itself. It is easy to see that the first is opposed to strict or narrower (unremitting)1 duty, the second only to wide (meritorious) duty; and so all duties, as far as the kind of obligation (not the object of their action) is concerned, have by these examples been set out completely in their dependence upon the one principle. If we now attend to ourselves in any transgression of a duty, we find that we do not really will that our maxim should become a universal law, since that is impossible for us, but that the opposite of our maxim should g Teilnehmung h readingAbleitung instead ofAbteilung, "classification" ' unnachlafilich 33  GROUNDWORK OF THE METAPHYSICS OF MORALS instead remain a universal law, only we take the liberty of making an exception to it for ourselves (or just for this once) to the advantage of our inclination. Consequently, if we weighed all cases from one and the same point of view, namely that of reason, we would find a contradiction in our own will, namely that a certain principle be objectively necessary as a universal law and yet subjectively not hold universally but allow excep- tions. Since, however, we at one time regard our action from the point of view of a will wholly conformed with reason but then regard the very same action from the point of view of a will affected by inclination, there is really no contradiction here but instead a resistance^ of inclination to the precept of reason (antagonismus), through which the universality of the principle (universalitas) is changed into mere generality (generalitas) and the practical rational principle is to meet the maxim halfway. Now, even though this cannot be justified in our own impartially rendered judgment, it still shows that we really acknowledge the validity of the categorical imperative and permit ourselves (with all respect for it) only a few excep- tions that, as it seems to us, are inconsiderable and wrung from us. 4:425 We have therefore shown at least this much: that if duty is a concept that is to contain significance and real lawgiving for our actions it can be expressed only in categorical imperatives and by no means in hypothetical ones; we have also - and this is already a great deal - set forth distinctly and as determined for every use the content of the categorical imperative, which must contain the principle of all duty (if there is such a thing at all). But we have not yet advanced so far as to prove a priori that there really is such an imperative, that there is a practical law, which commands abso- lutely of itself and without any incentives, and that the observance of this law is duty. For the purpose of achieving this it is of the utmost importance to take warning that we must not let ourselves think of wanting to derive the reality of this principle from the special property of human nature. For, duty is to be practical unconditional necessity of action and it must therefore hold for all rational beings (to which alone an imperative can apply at all) and only because ofthis be also a law for all human wills. On the other hand, what is derived from the special natural constitution of humanity - what is derived from certain feelings and propensities and even, if possible, from a special tendency that would be peculiar to human reason and would not have to hold necessarily for the will of every rational being - that can indeed yield a maxim for us but not a law; it can yield a subjective principle on which we might act if we have the propensity and inclination/ but not an objective principle on which we would be directed to act even though every propensity, inclination, and natural tendency of ours were j Widerstand k nach welchem wir handeln zu diirfen Hang und Neigung haben 34  FROM POPULAR PHILOSOPHY TO METAPHYSICS against it - so much so that the sublimity and inner dignity of the com- mand in a duty is all the more manifest the fewer are the subjective causes in favor of it and the more there are against it, without thereby weakening in the least the necessitation by the law or taking anything away from its validity. Here, then, we see philosophy put in fact in a precarious position, which is to be firm even though there is nothing in heaven or on earth from which it depends or on which it is based. Here philosophy is to manifest its purity as sustainer of its own laws, not as herald of laws that an implanted sense or who knows what tutelary nature whispers to it, all of which - though they may always be better than nothing at all - can still never yield basic principles that reason dictates and that must have their 4:426 source entirely and completely a priori and, at the same time, must have their commanding authority from this: that they expect nothing from the inclination of human beings but everything from the supremacy of the law and the respect owed it or, failing this, condemn the human being to contempt for himself and inner abhorrence. Hence everything empirical, as an addition/ to the principle of morality, is not only quite inept for this; it is also highly prejudicial to the purity of morals, where the proper worth of an absolutely good will - a worth raised above all price - consists just in the principle of action being free from all influences of contingent grounds, which only experience can furnish. One cannot give too many or too frequent warnings against this laxity, or even mean cast of mind, which seeks its principle among empirical motives and laws; for, human reason in its weariness gladly rests on this pillow and in a dream of sweet illusions (which allow it to embrace a cloud instead of Juno) it substitutes for morality a bastard patched up from limbs of quite diverse ancestry, which looks like whatever one wants to see in it but not like virtue for him who has once seen virtue in her true form.# The question is therefore this: is it a necessary law^r all rational beings always to appraise their actions in accordance with such maxims as they themselves could will to serve as universal laws? If there is such a law, then it must already be connected (completely a priori) with the concept of the will of a rational being as such. But in order to discover this connection we must, however reluctantly, step forth, namely into metaphysics, although into a domain"2 of it that is distinct from speculative philosophy, namely 4:427 *To behold virtue in her proper form is nothing other than to present morality stripped of any admixture of the sensible and of any spurious adornments of reward or self-love. By means of the least effort of his reason everyone can easily become aware of how much virtue then eclipses everything else that appears charming to the inclinations, provided his reason is not altogether spoiled for abstraction. 1 Zutat, literally "an ornament" m Gebiet 35  GROUNDWORK OF THE METAPHYSICS OF MORALS into metaphysics of morals. In a practical philosophy, where we have to do not with assuming" grounds for what happens but rather laws for what ought to happen even if it never does, that is, objective practical laws, we do not need to undertake an investigation into the grounds on account of which something pleases or displeases; how the satisfaction of mere sensa- tion differs from taste, and whether the latter differs from a general satisfaction of reason; upon what the feeling of pleasure or displeasure rests, and how from it desires and inclinations arise, and from them, with the cooperation of reason, maxims; for all that belongs to an empirical doctrine of the soul,0 which would constitute the second part of the doc- trine of nature when this is regarded as philosophy of nature insofar as it is based on empirical laws. Here, however, it is a question of objective practi- cal laws and hence of the relation of a will to itself insofar as it determines itself only by reason; for then everything that has reference to the empiri- cal falls away of itself, since if reason entirely by itself determines conduct (and the possibility of this is just what we want now to investigate), it must necessarily do so a priori. The will is thought as a capacity to determine itself to acting in confor- mity with the representation of certain laws. And such a capacity can be found only in rational beings. Now, what serves the will as the objective ground of its self-determination is an end, and this, if it is given by reason alone, must hold equally for all rational beings. What, on the other hand, contains merely the ground of the possibility of an action the effect of which is an end is called a means. The subjective ground of desire is an incentive', the objective ground of volition is a motive; hence the distinction between subjective ends, which rest on incentives, and objective ends, which depend on motives, which hold for every rational being. Practical 4:428 principles are formal if they abstract from all subjective ends, whereas they are material if they have put these, and consequently certain incentives, at their basis. The ends that a rational being proposes at his discretion as effects of his actions (material ends) are all only relative; for only their mere relation to a specially constituted^ faculty of desire on the part of the subject gives them their worth, which can therefore furnish no universal principles, no principles valid and necessary for all rational beings and also for every volition, that is, no practical laws. Hence all these relative ends are only the ground of hypothetical imperatives. But suppose there were something the existence of which in itself'has an absolute worth, something which as an end in itself could be a ground of determinate laws; then in it, and in it alone, would lie the ground of a possible categorical imperative, that is, of a practical law. " anzunehmen 0 Seelenlehre p geartetes 36  FROM POPULAR PHILOSOPHY TO METAPHYSICS Now I say that the human being and in general every rational being exists as an end in itself, not merely as a means to be used by this or that will at its discretion; instead he must in all his actions, whether directed to himself or also to other rational beings, always be regarded at the same time as an end. All objects of the inclinations have only a conditional worth; for, if there were not inclinations and the needs based on them, their object would be without worth. But the inclinations themselves, as sources of needs, are so far from having an absolute worth, so as to make one wish to have them/ that it must instead be the universal wish of every rational being to be altogether free from them. Thus the worth of any object to be acquired by our action is always conditional. Beings the existence of which rests not on our will but on nature, if they are beings without reason, still have only a relative worth, as means, and are therefore called things/ whereas rational beings are called persons because their nature already marks them out as an end in itself, that is, as something that may not be used merely as a means, and hence so far limits all choice (and is an object of respect). These, therefore, are not merely subjective ends, the exis- tence of which as an effect of our action has a worth for us, but rather objective ends, that is, beings* the existence of which is in itself an end, and indeed one such that no other end, to which they would serve merely as means, can be put in its place, since without it nothing of absolute worth would be found anywhere; but if all worth were conditional and therefore contingent, then no supreme practical principle for reason could be found anywhere. If, then, there is to be a supreme practical principle and, with respect to the human will, a categorical imperative, it must be one such that, from the representation of what is necessarily an end for everyone because it is an end in itself, it constitutes an objective principle of the will and thus can serve as a universal practical law/ The ground of this principle is: rational nature exists as an end in itself The human being necessarily represents his 4.429 own existence in this way; so far it is thus a subjective principle of human actions. But every other rational being also represents his existence in this way consequent on" just the same rational ground that also holds for me;* thus it is at the same time an objective principle from which, as a supreme *Here I put forward this proposition as a postulate. The grounds for it will be found in the last Section. q um sie selbst zu wiinschen r Sachen s Dinge. Although both Sache and Ding would usually be translated as "thing," Sache has the technical sense of something usable that does not have free choice, i.e., "Sache ist ein Din^ to which nothing can be imputed (The Metaphysics of Morals 6:223). ' ausmacht, mithin zum allgemeinen praktischen Gesetz dienen kann. It is not clear, grammatically, whether the subject of "can serve" is "end in itself" or "objective principle." " zufolge 37  GROUNDWORK OF THE METAPHYSICS OF MORALS practical ground, it must be possible to derive all laws of the will. The practical imperative will therefore be the following: So act that you use humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, always at the same time as an end, never merely as a means. We shall see whether this can be carried out. To keep to the preceding examples: First, as regards the concept of necessary duty to oneself, someone who has suicide* in mind will ask himself whether his action can be consistent with the idea of humanity as an end in itself. If he destroys himself in order to escape from a trying condition he makes use of a person merely as a means to maintain a tolerable condition up to the end of life. A human being, how- ever, is not a thing and hence not something that can be used merely as a means, but must in all his actions always be regarded as an end in itself. I cannot, therefore, dispose of a human being in my own person by maiming, damaging or killing him. (I must here pass over a closer determination of this principle that would prevent any misinterpretation, e.g., as to having limbs amputated in order to preserve myself, or putting my life in danger in order to preserve my life, and so forth; that belongs to morals proper.) Second, as regards necessary duty to others or duty owed* them, he who has it in mind to make a false promise to others sees at once that he wants to make use of another human being merely as a means, without the other at the same time containing in himself the end. For, he whom I want to use for my 4:430 purposes by such a promise cannot possibly agree to my way of behaving toward him, and so himself contain the end of this action. This conflict with the principle of other human beings is seen more distinctly if examples of assaults on the freedom and property of others are brought forward. For then it is obvious that he who transgresses the rights of human beings intends to make use of the person of others merely as means, without taking into consideration that, as rational beings, they are always to be valued at the same time as ends, that is, only as beings who must also be able to contain in themselves the end of the very same action.* Third, with respect to contingent (meritorious) duty to oneself, it is not enough that the action does not conflict with humanity in our person as an *Let it not be thought that the trite quod tibi non vis fieri etc/ can serve as norm or principle here. For it is, though with various limitations, only derived from the latter. It can be no universal law because it contains the ground neither of duties to oneself nor of duties of love to others (for many a man would gladly agree that others should not benefit him if only he might be excused from showing them beneficence), and finally it does not contain the ground of duties owed to others; for a criminal would argue on this ground against the judge punishing him, and so forth. v Selbstmorde, perhaps "murdering himself." In The Metaphysics of Morals, Selbstmord (homicidium dolosum) is carefully distinguished from Selbstentleibung (suicidium) (6:421-4). " schuldige x what you do not want others to do to you, etc. [i.e., don't do the same to them] 38  FROM POPULAR PHILOSOPHY TO METAPHYSICS end in itself; it must also harmonize with it. Now there are in humanity predispositionsJ to greater perfection, which belong to the end of nature with respect to humanity in our subject; to neglect these might admittedly be consistent with the preservation of humanity as an end in itself but not with the furtherance of this end. Fourth, concerning meritorious duty to others, the natural end that all human beings have is their own happiness. Now, humanity might indeed subsist if no one contributed to the happiness of others but yet did not intentionally withdraw anything from it; but there is still only a negative and not a positive agreement with humanity as an end in itself unless everyone also tries, as far as he can, to further the ends of others. For, the ends of a subject who is an end in itself must as far as possible be also my ends, if that representation is to have its full effect in me. This principle of humanity, and in general of every rational nature, as an end in itself (which is the supreme limiting condition of the freedom of action 4:431 of every human being) is not borrowed from experience; first because of its universality, since it applies to all rational beings as such and no experience is sufficient to determine anything about them; second because in it human- ity is represented not as an end of human beings (subjectively), that is, not as an object that we of ourselves actually make our end, but as an objective end that, whatever ends we may have, ought as law to constitute the supreme limiting condition of all subjective ends, so that the principle must arise from pure reason. That is to say, the ground of all practical lawgiving lies (in accordance with the first principle) objectively in the rule and the form of universality which makes it fit to be a law (possibly2 a law of nature); subjectively, however, it lies in the end; but the subject of all ends is every rational being as an end in itself (in accordance with the second principle); from this there follows now the third practical principle of the will, as supreme condition of its harmony with universal practical reason, the idea of the mill of every rational being as a mill giving universal lam. In accordance with this principle all maxims are repudiated that are inconsistent with the will's own giving of universal law. Hence the will is not merely subject to the law but subject to it in such a way that it must be viewed as also giving the law to itselP and just because of this as first subject to the law (of which it can regard itself as the author)/ Imperatives as they were represented above - namely in terms of the conformity of actions with universal law similar to a natural order or of the universal supremacy as ends0 of rational beings in themselves - did exclude y Anlagen z alien/alls a O r "as itself lawgiving," ah selbstgesetzgebend b Urheber c Zweckvorzuges 39  GROUNDWORK OF THE METAPHYSICS OF MORALS from their commanding authority any admixture of interest as incentive, just by their having been represented as categorical; but they were only assumed*1 to be categorical because we had to make such an assumption if we wanted to explain the concept of duty. But that there are practical propositions which command categorically could not itself be proved/ any more than it could be proved either here or anywhere else in this section; one thing, however, could still have been done: namely, to indicate in the imperative itself the renunciation of all interest, in volition from duty, by means of some determination the imperative contains, as the specific 4:432 mark distinguishing^^categorical from hypothetical imperatives; and this is done in the present third formula of the principle, namely the idea of the will of every rational being as a will giving universal law. For when we think of a will of this kind, then although a will that stands under law may be bound to this law by means of some interest, a will that is itself the supreme lawgiver cannot possibly, as such, depend upon some interest; for, a will that is dependent in this way would itself need yet another law that would limit the interest of its self-love to the condition of a validity for universal law. Thus the principle of every human will as a will giving universal law through all its maxims* provided it is otherwise correct, would be very well suited to be the categorical imperative by this: that just because of the idea of giving universal law it is based on no interest and therefore, among all possible imperatives, can alone be unconditional; or still better, by convert- ing the proposition, if there is a categorical imperative (i.e., a law for every will of a rational being) it can only command that everything be done from the maxim of one's will as a will that could at the same time have as its object itself as giving universal law; for only then is the practical principle, and the imperative that the will obeys, unconditional, since it can have no interest as its basis. If we look back upon all previous efforts that have ever been made to discover the principle of morality, we need not wonder now why all of them had to fail. It was seen that the human being is bound to laws by his duty, but it never occurred to them that he is subject only to laws given by himselfbut still universal and that he is bound only to act in conformity with his own will, which, however, in accordance with nature's end^ is a will giving universal law. For, if one thought of him only as subject to a law 4:433 (whatever it may be), this law had to carry with it some interest by way of *I may be excused from citing examples to illustrate this principle, since those that have already illustrated the categorical imperative and its formula can all serve for the same end here. d angenommen e bewiesen merden f Unterscheidungszeichen g dem Naturzwecke nach 40  FROM POPULAR PHILOSOPHY TO METAPHYSICS attraction or constraint, since it did not as a law arise from his will; in order to conform with the law, his will had instead to be constrained by something else to act in a certain way/ By this quite necessary consequence, however, all the labor to find a supreme ground of duty was irretrievably lost. For, one never arrived at duty but instead at the necessity of an action from a certain interest. This might be one's own or another's interest. But then the imperative had to turn out always conditional and could not be fit for a moral command. I will therefore call this basic principle the principle of the autonomy of the will in contrast with every other, which I accord- ingly count as heteronomy. The concept of every rational being as one who must regard himself as giving universal law through all the maxims of his will, so as to appraise himself and his actions from this point of view, leads to a very fruitful concept dependent upon it,' namely that of a kingdom* of ends. By a kingdom I understand a systematic union of various rational beings through common laws. Now since laws determine ends in terms of their universal validity, if we abstract from the personal differences of rational beings as well as from all the content of their private ends we shall be able to think of a whole of all ends in systematic connection (a whole both of rational beings as ends in themselves and of the ends of his own that each may set himself), that is, a kingdom of ends, which is possible in accor- dance with the above principles. For, all rational beings stand under the law that each of them is to treat himself and all others never merely as means but always at the same time as ends in themselves. But from this there arises a systematic union of rational beings through common objective laws, that is, a kingdom, which can be called a kingdom of ends (admittedly only an ideal) because what these laws have as their purpose is just the relation of these beings to one another as ends and means. A rational being belongs as a member to the kingdom of ends when he gives universal laws in it but is also himself subject to these laws. He belongs to it as sovereign11 when, as lawgiving, he is not subject to the will of any other. A rational being must always regard himself as lawgiving in a kingdom 4:434 of ends possible through freedom of the will, whether as a member or as sovereign. He cannot, however, hold the position of sovereign merely by the maxims of his will but only in case he is a completely independent being, without needs and with unlimited resources7 adequate to his will. h sondern dieser gesetzmdssig von etrvas anderm genotigt tvurde, aufgewisse Weise zu handeln 1 Or "attached to it," ihm anhangenden 7 Reich, which could also be translated "commonwealth" * ah Oberhaupt 1 Vermogen 41  GROUNDWORK OF THE METAPHYSICS OF MORALS Morality consists, then, in the reference of all action to the lawgiving by which alone a kingdom of ends is possible. This lawgiving must, however, be found in every rational being himself and be able to arise from his will, the principle of which is, accordingly: to do no action on any other maxim than one such that it would be consistent with it to be a universal law, and hence to act only so that the will could regard itself as at the same time giving universal law through its maxim. Now, if maxims are not already of their nature in agreement with this objective principle of rational beings as givers of universal law, the necessity of an action in accordance with this principle is called practical necessitation, that is, duty. Duty does not apply to the sovereign in the kingdom of ends, but it does apply to every member of it and indeed to all in equal measure. The practical necessity of acting in accordance with this principle, that is, duty, does not rest at all on feelings, impulses, and inclinations but merely on the relation of rational beings to one another, in which the will of a rational being must always be regarded as at the same time lawgiving, since otherwise it could not be thought as an end in itself Reason accord- ingly refers every maxim of the will as giving universal law to every other will and also to every action toward oneself, and does so not for the sake of any other practical motive or any future advantage but from the idea of the dignity of a rational being, who obeys no law other than that which he himself at the same time gives. In the kingdom of ends everything has either a price or a dignity.m What has a price can be replaced by something else as its equivalent, what on the other hand is raised above all price and therefore admits of no equivalent has a dignity. What is related to general human inclinations and needs has a market price, that which, even without presupposing a need, conforms with a 4:435 certain taste, that is, with a delight" in the mere purposeless0 play of our mental powers, has a fancy price f but that which constitutes the condition under which alone something can be an end in itself has not merely a relative worth, that is, a price, but an inner worth, that is, dignity. Now, morality is the condition under which alone a rational being can be an end in itself, since only through this is it possible to be a lawgiving member in the kingdom of ends. Hence morality, and humanity insofar as it is capable of morality, is that which alone has dignity. Skill and diligence in work have a market price; wit, lively imagination and humor have a fancy price; on the other hand, fidelity in promises and benevolence from basic principles (not from instinct) have an inner worth. Nature, as well as m Wiirde n Wohlgefallen 0 zwecklosen p Affectionspreis 42  FROM POPULAR PHILOSOPHY TO METAPHYSICS art, contains nothing that, lacking these, it could put in their place; for their worth does not consist in the effects arising from them, in the advantage and use they provide, but in dispositions/ that is, in maxims of the will that in this way are ready to manifest themselves through actions, even if success does not favor them. Such actions also need no recommen- dation from any subjective disposition or taste, so as to be looked upon with immediate favor and delight, nor do they need any immediate propen- sity or feeling for them; they present the will that practices them as the object of an immediate respect, and nothing but reason is required to impose them upon the will, not to coax them from it, which latter would in any case be a contradiction in the case of duties. This estimation therefore lets the worth of such a cast of mind be cognized as dignity and puts it infinitely above all price, with which it cannot be brought into comparison or competition at all without, as it were, assaulting its holiness.5 And what is it, then, that justifies a morally good disposition, or virtue, in making such high claims? It is nothing less than the share it affords a rational being in the giving ofuniversal laws, by which it makes him fit to be a member of a possible kingdom of ends, which he was already destined to be by his own nature as an end in itself and, for that very reason, as lawgiving in the kingdom of ends - as free with respect to all laws of nature, obeying only those which he himself gives and in accordance with which his maxims can belong to a giving of universal law (to which at the same time he subjects himself). For, nothing can have a worth other than 4:436 that which the law determines for it. But the lawgiving itself, which deter- mines all worth, must for that very reason have a dignity, that is, an unconditional, incomparable worth; and the word respect alone provides a becoming expression for the estimate of it that a rational being must give. Autonomy is therefore the ground of the dignity of human nature and of every rational nature. The above three ways of representing the principle of morality are at bottom only so many formulae of the very same law, and any one of them of itself unites the other two in it. There is nevertheless a difference among them, which is indeed subjectively rather than objectively practical, intended namely to bring an idea of reason closer to intuition (by a certain analogy) and thereby to feeling. All maxims have, namely, 1) a form, which consists in universality; and in this respect the formula of the moral imperative is expressed thus: that maxims must be chosen' as if they were to hold as universal laws of nature; 2) a matter, namely an end, and in this respect the formula says that a q Gesinnungen r Disposition s Heiligkeit ' so miissen gewdhlt werden 43  GROUNDWORK OF THE METAPHYSICS OF MORALS rational being, as an end by its nature and hence as an end in itself, must in every maxim serve as the limiting condition of all merely relative and arbitrary" ends; 3) a complete determination of all maxims by means of that formula, namely that all maxims from one's own lawgiving are to harmonize with a possi- ble kingdom of ends as with a kingdom of nature.* A progression takes place here, as through the categories of the unity of the form of the will (its universality), the plurality of the matter (of objects, i.e., of ends), and the allness1 or totality of the system of these. But one does better always to proceed in moral appraisal by the strict method and put at its 4:437 basis the universal formula of the categorical imperative: act in accor- dance with a maxim that can at the same time make itself a universal law. If, however, one wants also to provide access for the moral law, it is very use- ful to bring one and the same action under the three concepts men- tioned above and thereby, as far as possible, bring it closer to intuition. We can now end where we set out from at the beginning, namely with the concept of a will unconditionally good. That will is absolutely good which cannot be evil, hence whose maxim, if made a universal law, can never conflict with itself. This principle is, accordingly, also its supreme law: act always on that maxim whose universality as a law you can at the same time will; this is the sole condition under which a will can never be in conflict with itself, and such an imperative is categorical. Since the validity of the will as a universal law for possible actions has an analogy with the universal connection of the existence of things in accordance with universal laws, which is the formal aspect of nature in general, the categori- cal imperative can also be expressed thus: act in accordance with maxims that can at the same time have as their object themselves as universal laws of nature. In this way, then, the formula of an absolutely good will is provided. Rational nature is distinguished from the rest of nature by this, that it sets itself an end. This end would be the matter of every good will. But since, in the idea of a will absolutely good without any limiting condition (attainment of this or that end) abstraction must be made altogether from every end to be effected (this would make every will only relatively good), the end must here be thought not as an end to be effected but as an independently existing* end, and hence thought only negatively, that is, as *Teleology considers nature as a kingdom of ends, morals considers a possible kingdom of ends as a kingdom of nature. In the former the kingdom of ends is a theoretical idea for explaining what exists. In the latter, it is a practical idea for the sake of bringing about, in conformity with this very idea, that which does not exist but which can become real by means of our conduct. " rvillkurlichen v Allheit w selbststdndiger 44  FROM POPULAR PHILOSOPHY TO METAPHYSICS that which must never be acted against and which must therefore in every volition be estimated never merely as a means but always at the same time as an end. Now, this end can be nothing other than the subject of all possible ends itself, because this subject is also the subject of a possible absolutely good will; for, such a will cannot without contra- diction be subordinated to any other object. The principle, so act with reference to every rational being (yourself and others) that in your maxim it holds at the same time as an end in itself, is thus at bottom the same as the basic principle, act on a maxim that at the same time 4:438 contains in itself its own universal validity for every rational being. For, to say that in the use of means to any end I am to limit my maxim to the condition of its universal validity as a law for every subject is tantamount to saying that the subject of ends, that is, the rational being itself, must be made the basis of all maxims of actions, never merely as a means but as the supreme limiting condition in the use of all means, that is, always at the same time as an end. Now, from this it follows incontestably that every rational being, as an end in itself, must be able to regard himself as also giving universal laws with respect to any law whatsoever to which he may be subject; for, it is just this fitness of his maxims for giving universal law that marks him out as an end in itself; it also follows that this dignity (prerogative) he has over all merely natural beings brings with it that he must always take his maxims from the point of view of himself, and likewise every other rational being, as lawgiving beings (who for this reason are also called persons). Now in this way a world of rational beings (mundus intelligibilis)x as a kingdom of ends is possible, through the giving of their own laws^ by all persons as members. Consequently, every rational being must act as if he were by his maxims at all times a lawgiving member of the universal kingdom of ends. The formal principle of these maxims is, act as if your maxims were to serve at the same time as a universal law (for all rational beings). A kingdom of ends is thus possible only by analogy with a king- dom of nature; the former, however, is possible only through maxims, that is, rules imposed upon oneself, the latter only through laws of externally necessitated efficient causes. Despite this, nature as a whole, even though it is regarded as a machine, is still given the name "a kingdom of nature" insofar as and because it has reference to rational beings as its ends. Now, such a kingdom of ends would actually come into existence through maxims whose rule the categorical imperative prescribes to all rational beings if they were universally followed. It is true that, even though a rational being scrupulously follows this maxim himself, he cannot for that reason x intelligible world y durch die eigene Gesetzgebung 45