Kant’s Rule
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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.
All morality is derived from the protection and promotion of rational consciousness in each individual
More simplified version of Kant’s rule
Each person must never be treated as a means to some other end, but must also be treated as and end themselves
Examples
| Means | End |
|---|---|
| Hungry → Drive car → get gas → pay for food | Eat a burrito |
| Call a friend to see how they are | How they are doing is the end |
| Leave a party early | waking up early |
If you want a burrito you may not want to drive in your car or get gas or pay for food, but those are the means needed to achieve the end result.
If you want to check on someone you need to make the call.
And End is desired for it’s own sake. It’s the defining motivating factor of our decisions and behaviors. It’s what you ultimately want.
Below may be another addition to the first example above.
| Means | End |
|---|---|
| Wife is Hungry → I Drive car → get gas → pay for food → bring it back to her. | Making my wife happy |
If we change this again slightly we would see something like.
| Means | End |
|---|---|
| Wife is Hungry → I Drive car → get gas → pay for food → bring it back to her → My wife is happy | having sex |
The end desire has changed now. What was the ultimate desire for the end. Was the goal to make my wife happy or was i using all the steps including my wife being happy as a means to the end of having sex.
Treating any human being as a means to some other end is the basis of all unethical behavior.
According to Kant. Again
Each person must never be treated as a means to some other end, but must also be treated as and end themselves
Other examples may include
| Unethical behavior? potentially | Means | End |
|---|---|---|
| Lying | Lying to others intentionally. Misleading others on false information | Get Money/power some other end goal |
| Cheating | violating the expectations of other rational and sentient beings. Similar to lying. Your partner(s) become the means. | Fulfill your own selfish desires |
| Violence | Using someone else as a means to get what you desire. | Money/power/security |
Self respect is about knowing your own value
Knowing that every human, no matter who they are, deserves basic rights and dignities
Every consciousness is sacred
Until you find the right purpose you haven’t found much of anything at all.
Rules for happiness: something to do, someone to love, something to hope for.
Other things to consider
| Unethical behavior? potentially | Means | End |
|---|---|---|
| Lying | Telling a dying man he is going to be all right. Telling your wife you like her outfit. | Make someone feel happy/comforted |
| Violence | willing to cause harm to one individual. | Protect the life of someone else |
Kant’s categorical imperative
Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative is the cornerstone of his moral philosophy. It is a rule for determining the morality of actions based on reason alone, independent of any particular goals or desires. In other words, it tells us what we ought to do regardless of our personal interests or inclinations.
Kant offers several formulations of the categorical imperative, but two of the most well-known are:
“Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.”
Here, you test whether your proposed action (its “maxim”) can be willed to hold true for everyone at all times. If you cannot will that everyone act in the same way, then your action is not morally permissible.
“Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end.”
This formulation insists that all individuals have intrinsic value as rational beings. We must never treat people as mere tools or instruments for our own purposes; we must respect their dignity and autonomy.
In essence, Kant’s categorical imperative demands that our moral principles be universalizable (applicable to everyone) and that we respect the intrinsic worth of all persons. It is called “categorical” because it applies without exceptions or conditions.