What do you think?
Rate this book
Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals/Metaphysical Principles of Virtue
Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten (Riga: Johann Friedrich Hartknoch, 1785), xiv, 128 pp.; 2nd edition: 1786. [Ak. 4:387-463] “Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals.” Translated by Lewis White Beck, Immanuel Kant: Critique of Practical Reason and Other Writings in Moral Philosophy (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1949). Translated by James Ellington (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1981). Translated by Mary J. Gregor in Immanuel Kant, Practical Philosophy, edited by Mary J. Gregor (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), pp. 43-108.
- GenresPhilosophy
238 pages, cloth
First published October 1, 1995
13 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
About the author
Immanuel Kant
2,990 books4,346 followersImmanuel Kant was an 18th-century philosopher from Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). He's regarded as one of the most influential thinkers of modern Europe & of the late Enlightenment. His most important work is The Critique of Pure Reason, an investigation of reason itself. It encompasses an attack on traditional metaphysics & epistemology, & highlights his own contribution to these areas. Other main works of his maturity are The Critique of Practical Reason, which is about ethics, & The Critique of Judgment, about esthetics & teleology.
Pursuing metaphysics involves asking questions about the ultimate nature of reality. Kant suggested that metaphysics can be reformed thru epistemology. He suggested that by understanding the sources & limits of human knowledge we can ask fruitful metaphysical questions. He asked if an object can be known to have certain properties prior to the experience of that object. He concluded that all objects that the mind can think about must conform to its manner of thought. Therefore if the mind can think only in terms of causality–which he concluded that it does–then we can know prior to experiencing them that all objects we experience must either be a cause or an effect. However, it follows from this that it's possible that there are objects of such a nature that the mind cannot think of them, & so the principle of causality, for instance, cannot be applied outside experience: hence we cannot know, for example, whether the world always existed or if it had a cause. So the grand questions of speculative metaphysics are off limits, but the sciences are firmly grounded in laws of the mind. Kant believed himself to be creating a compromise between the empiricists & the rationalists. The empiricists believed that knowledge is acquired thru experience alone, but the rationalists maintained that such knowledge is open to Cartesian doubt and that reason alone provides us with knowledge. Kant argues, however, that using reason without applying it to experience will only lead to illusions, while experience will be purely subjective without first being subsumed under pure reason. Kant’s thought was very influential in Germany during his lifetime, moving philosophy beyond the debate between the rationalists & empiricists. The philosophers Fichte, Schelling, Hegel and Schopenhauer saw themselves as correcting and expanding Kant's system, thus bringing about various forms of German Idealism. Kant continues to be a major influence on philosophy to this day, influencing both Analytic and Continental philosophy.
Pursuing metaphysics involves asking questions about the ultimate nature of reality. Kant suggested that metaphysics can be reformed thru epistemology. He suggested that by understanding the sources & limits of human knowledge we can ask fruitful metaphysical questions. He asked if an object can be known to have certain properties prior to the experience of that object. He concluded that all objects that the mind can think about must conform to its manner of thought. Therefore if the mind can think only in terms of causality–which he concluded that it does–then we can know prior to experiencing them that all objects we experience must either be a cause or an effect. However, it follows from this that it's possible that there are objects of such a nature that the mind cannot think of them, & so the principle of causality, for instance, cannot be applied outside experience: hence we cannot know, for example, whether the world always existed or if it had a cause. So the grand questions of speculative metaphysics are off limits, but the sciences are firmly grounded in laws of the mind. Kant believed himself to be creating a compromise between the empiricists & the rationalists. The empiricists believed that knowledge is acquired thru experience alone, but the rationalists maintained that such knowledge is open to Cartesian doubt and that reason alone provides us with knowledge. Kant argues, however, that using reason without applying it to experience will only lead to illusions, while experience will be purely subjective without first being subsumed under pure reason. Kant’s thought was very influential in Germany during his lifetime, moving philosophy beyond the debate between the rationalists & empiricists. The philosophers Fichte, Schelling, Hegel and Schopenhauer saw themselves as correcting and expanding Kant's system, thus bringing about various forms of German Idealism. Kant continues to be a major influence on philosophy to this day, influencing both Analytic and Continental philosophy.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 1, 2023
p.145: “The moral capacity of man would not be virtue if it were not actualized by the strength of one's resolution in con-fict with powerful opposing inclinations. Virtue is the product of pure practical reason insofar as the latter, in the consciousness of its superiority (through freedom), gains mastery over the inclinations.”
p.69: “Virtue is always in progress and yet always begins at the beginning. The first follows from the fact that, objectively considered, virtue is an ideal and unattainable; but yet constantly to approximate it is nevertheless a duty. The second is founded subjectively upon the nature of man, which is affected by inclinations. Under the influence of these inclinations virtue, with its maxims adopted once for all, can never settle into a state of rest and inactivity; if it is not rising, it inevitably declines. This is so because moral maxims, unlike technical ones, cannot be based on habit (for basing a maxim on habit belongs to the physical nature of the determination of the will). But even if the exercise of moral maxims were to become a habit, the subject would thereby lose the freedom of adopting his maxims; this freedom, however, is the character of an action done from duty.”
p.99: “Do not become the vassals of men. Do not suffer your rights to be trampled underfoot by others with impunity. Incur no debts for which you cannot provide full security. Accept no favors which you might do without. Do not be parasites nor fatterers nor (what really differs from these only in degree) beggars. Therefore, be thrifty so that you may not become destitute. Complaining and whimpering, even merely crying out in bodily pain, are unworthy of you, and most of all when you are aware that you deserve pain. This accounts for the ennoblement (mitigation of disgrace) of a delinquent's death through the stoicism with which he dies. Kneeling down or groveling on the ground, even to express your reverence for heavenly things, is contrary to human dignity; as is also invoking heavenly things in actual images, for you then humble Yourselves not to an ideal which your own reason sets before you, but to an idol which is your own handiwork.”
I love the strictness and severity
p.69: “Virtue is always in progress and yet always begins at the beginning. The first follows from the fact that, objectively considered, virtue is an ideal and unattainable; but yet constantly to approximate it is nevertheless a duty. The second is founded subjectively upon the nature of man, which is affected by inclinations. Under the influence of these inclinations virtue, with its maxims adopted once for all, can never settle into a state of rest and inactivity; if it is not rising, it inevitably declines. This is so because moral maxims, unlike technical ones, cannot be based on habit (for basing a maxim on habit belongs to the physical nature of the determination of the will). But even if the exercise of moral maxims were to become a habit, the subject would thereby lose the freedom of adopting his maxims; this freedom, however, is the character of an action done from duty.”
p.99: “Do not become the vassals of men. Do not suffer your rights to be trampled underfoot by others with impunity. Incur no debts for which you cannot provide full security. Accept no favors which you might do without. Do not be parasites nor fatterers nor (what really differs from these only in degree) beggars. Therefore, be thrifty so that you may not become destitute. Complaining and whimpering, even merely crying out in bodily pain, are unworthy of you, and most of all when you are aware that you deserve pain. This accounts for the ennoblement (mitigation of disgrace) of a delinquent's death through the stoicism with which he dies. Kneeling down or groveling on the ground, even to express your reverence for heavenly things, is contrary to human dignity; as is also invoking heavenly things in actual images, for you then humble Yourselves not to an ideal which your own reason sets before you, but to an idol which is your own handiwork.”
I love the strictness and severity
March 12, 2019
კანტის რამდენიმე სიტყვით დახასიათება რომ შეიძლებოდეს ,, მე-18 საუკუნის ეგზისტენციალისტი თომა აკვინელი''იქნებოდა. ვინაიდან ორივესთვის ადამიანი საფუძველშივე მოიაზრებს თავისუფალ ნებას,თომასთან ეს ღმერთისგან გამომდინარეობს,კანტთან კი შინაგანი მორალური კოდექსისგან. მართალია საყოველთაო მაქსიმის თანახმად მოქმედება უფრო ადვილი აღმოჩნდებოდა მხოლოდ შედეგების შიში რომ არ ედოს საფუძვლად. არც მორალური იმპერატივის აუცილებლობაა აქსიომა,მოკლედ რომ ვთქვათ ოდნავ რთულიცაა მისი იდეათა რეალობაში გადმოტანა,რასაც ბოლო ნაწილში თავადვე ადასტურებს: ,,მისაწვდომია იმპერატივის მიუწვდომლობა,ეს კი ყველაფერია,რაც სამართლიანად შეიძლება მოითხოვოს ფილოსოფიას.''
February 27, 2018
An absolutely necessary read for students of modern Western philosophy. The reading is dense and, at some points, obscure. Criticisms of Kant seem to be more based on his writing style, rather than the substance of his ethics.
April 12, 2019
Nothing like a German philosopher to get your brain scrambled. I really wish more logic and philosophy were taught in schools. The primary foundation for education should be how to think, how to reason.
March 17, 2018
Hm. I think I will need to read Hegel to better put this in context.
March 22, 2014
A great handbook for living life as a saint would. If you're too impatient, Louis CK hits all the major points in his bit on car rentals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDCWG....
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews