Grounding For The Metaphysics Of Morals By Immanuel Kant

Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher who, like several philosophers at the time, contemplated and wrote about morality, specifically the origin of human morals. Kant, unlike these other thinkers, believed that morality and religion, two topics that were typically paired together when speaking about morality, should be kept separate because they did not belong together. Kant believed that the only way to determine what was morally right and wrong could only be found by engaging reason, not religion. The main discrepancy that does not allow for religion and morality to go together is the diverse variety of religions in which humankind believes. If humans were to look to religion for answers to moral questions, the vast array of religions would point to an equally vast array of answers. Instead of this, Kant saw that morality should be a constant, similar to the discipline of mathematics, which would provide the same answer for all of humankind. Through his work Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, Kant establishes his supreme moral
The first of the formulas for the categorical imperative is the universalizability principle—“Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.” (Kant 30). By this principle, Kant places emphasis not on an action in and of itself, but the general rule that stands behind the act that is being considered. Further, Kant is unconcerned with the outcome of the action and his philosophy on morality is instead focused on the intention behind actions. Through this formulation, Kant’s philosophy essentially prohibits any human from making his or herself an exception to a rule that he or she would not want every other human to