Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant was born in Prussia in 1724 and died there in 1804, living during the Enlightenment. He was born into a modest family and that impacted his modest lifestyle. One of the things that most influenced his parent’s ability to deal with the hardships of their lives was religion, and although he saw its uses in helping others cope with their lives, he also saw incumbent secularization through the enlightenment.
Kant’s life goal was to create a secular replacement for moral values provided by religion so that humans would not revert to corrupt lives when they no longer relied on divine regard. Some of his most famous works included “Religion within the bounds of Reason”, “Groundwork on the Metaphysics of Morals”, and “Critique of Judgement.”
In the “Groundwork on the Metaphysics of Morals” Kant coined the term categorical imperatives which he claimed meant that “it doesn’t matter whether you want to be moral or not – the moral law is binding on all of us.” He derived decisions completely dependent on intellect and reasoning.
The first formulation was the Universalizability principle. Kant established that one should “act only according to that maxim which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law without contradiction.” This means that everyone should always do the things that they would want everyone else to be doing. No exceptions should be made for the individual. Even if you think that the moral law should be violated in an instance for a good reason, Kant believed that through certain proofs he could establish that there is a possibility that acting out of the moral code will not lead to the eventual beneficial end, and then you will be held morally culpable.
The second formulation it the Formula of Humanity. It establishes that one should “act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end, and never as a mere means.” Humans are not objects, and we should always consider what the intent behind another’s words are actions were and respect their wishes. Humans exist for themselves not to be merely used by others. We are “imbued with an absolute moral worth which means we shouldn’t be manipulated, or manipulate other autonomous agents for our own benefit.”
Kant also believed that we are only free when we act in accord with our best nature, an insight which could be found through beauty and art. Beautiful things were a reminder of a common goal for humanity, ideals for a better life. When immersed in art one could find the balance between duty and pleasure which every one of us struggles with. We live in universality and should find harmony with other beings away from our individualized, selfish concerns.
Do you believe that Kant’s secular moral code could work any better than a religious one? Do the ends justify the means, or should we always stick to our moral codes even if it means others may be hurt by our inaction?
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