Kant 5

1
Kant (5)

• Humanity as an end in itself

2
3 formulations of the CI

• Universal law formulation Act only according to
  that maxim whereby you can at the same time will
  that it should become a universal law (421).
• Formula of humanity Act always so as to treat
  humanity, whether in your own person or that of
  anyone else, never merely as a means but always
  at the same time as an end (429).
• Formula of autonomy Reject all maxims that are
  not consistent with the will's own legislation of
  universal law (431).

3
Law of nature formulation?

• Act as if the maxim of your action were to
  become through your will a universal law of
  nature (421)
• Not a separate formulation, but a procedure for
  applying the CI (the CI procedure)

4
Deriving the formulations

• Point of this is to reveal the moral law as a
  law of freedom
• The derivation proceeds by looking at the CI
  procedure from different points of view
• These points of view exist in a hypothetical
  community whose members follow the CI procedure

5
Formulations and points of view
6
Reasonable and rational

• Rational choosing effective means to ones ends
• Reasonable acting from interpersonally
  justifiable principles
• When the text says rational (vernünftig), Kant
  often means rational and reasonable
• Practical reason respects both rationality and
  reasonableness

7
What is humanity?

• Our status as rational and reasonable beings in
  the order of nature
• Our status as animated practical reason

8
CI respects humanity

• How are persons treated by the CI procedure?
• They must be able to find the agents action
  reasonable
• Thus their humanity is respected
• It is respected as an end and never merely as a
  means

9
Respect for humanity as an end

• Requires us to restrict the means we are willing
  to employ to achieve our ends
• Deceitful promise illustrates this
• So does Kants suicide example

10
Respect for humanity as an end

• Helps to determine our ends
• We must nurture our humanity--those capacities
  that make us animated practical reason (Ks 3rd
  example)
• One of these is the capacity to set ends
• We respect this capacity in others by giving
  their ends some weight in our deliberations (Ks
  4th example).