Always ask the question: ‘What if everyone did that?’ Don't make a special case for yourself. Kant thought what this meant in practice was that you shouldn't use other people but should treat them with respect, recognizing other people's autonomy, their capacity as individuals to make reasoned decisions for themselves. This reverence for the dignity and worth of individual human beings is at the core of modern human rights theory. It is Kant's great contribution to moral philosophy.
