Korsgaard on Kant

Kant's Formula of Universal Law

The Harvard community has made this article openly available.
Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters.

Citation

Korsgaard, Christine M. 1985. Kant's formula of universal law.
Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 66, no. 1-2: 24-47.

Published Version

http://www.wiley.com/bw/journal.asp?ref=0279-0750

Accessed

December 6, 2012 4:39:30 AM EST

Citable Link

http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:3201869

Terms of Use

This article was downloaded from Harvard University's DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-ofuse#LAA (Article begins on next page)

1

Ka n t ' s F o rmu l a o f U n i v e rs a l L a w
C h r i sti n e M . K o rs gaar d

Kant 's first formulation of t h e Cat e gorical Imperative , t h e Formula of Universal
Law, runs:
Act only according t o t hat maxim by which you can at t h e same time will t hat it should b ecome a universal law.
(G 421/39)

1

A few lines lat er, Kant says that t h is is eq uivale nt t o acting as th ough your maxim were b y your will t o become a law of nat ure , and he use s t his lat t er formulat ion in h is examples of how t h e imperat ive is t o be app lie d . E lse wh ere, Kant specifies t hat t h e t est is whe t h er you could will t h e universalization for a syst em of nat ure "of which you yourse lf were a part" (C2 69/72); and in one p lace he characterizes t h e moral age nt as asking "what sort of world he would create und er t h e guidance of practical reason, . . . a world int o which , moreover, h e would place himself as a member."

2

But h ow d o you

d e t ermine wh e t h er or not you can will a give n maxim as a law of nat ure? Since t h e will is practical reason, and since e veryone must arrive at th e same conclusions in mat t ers of d u t y,