The realm of ethics is in part determined by our experiences - what Kant calls ‘practical anthropology’ - but it also has a rational part determined a priori through pure reason - this part is the ‘metaphysics of morals’. New Haven: Yale University Press.įor a more accessible translation, see Jonathan Bennett’s translation at earlymoderntexts.Īncient Greek philosophy was divided into three branches of knowledge: physics, ethics and logic. Kant explains the “necessary subdivisions” which is schematised below (see image). Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals. If you need a copy of the text, want to give a suggestion, or simply wish to say hi!, mail me at reading! CATEGORIESįollow Clueless Political Scientist on Follow via Email Unless otherwise stated (at the beginning of the post), sections in monotype will be skippable extracts, either from the text being summarised or from some other relevant text (in which case proper citations will be included).

Though I try to reproduce all the main ideas and most of the ideas accurately in these summaries, you must nevertheless read with caution and suspicion. Remember that these summaries are made by a clueless student. Reading these summaries or, more accurately, paraphrases is not a substitute for reading the actual texts. This is a limitation of the theme I am using and despite this irritating lack, I am in no mood to change it. (For better results, use the search terms culled from the tag cloud or menu.) This is because if you use the latter two, you'll get walls of texts showing the full articles instead of the brief excerpts/summaries of those articles. Protip: If you wish to navigate the site, use the search function instead of the menu or the tag cloud. 'Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals,' Paton writes in his preface, 'is one of the small books which is truly great: it has exercised on human thought an influence almost ludicrously disproportionate to its size.If you are new, please read this before proceeding. Paton, this volume has long been considered the definitive English edition of Kant's classic text. Featuring the renowned translation and commentary of Oxford's H. In it, Kant illuminates the basic concept that is central to his moral philosophy and, in fact, to the entire field of modern ethical thought: the Categorical Imperative, the supreme principle of morality, stating that all decisions should be made based on what is universally acceptable. Paton translationĬonsidered one of the most profound, influential, and important works of world philosophy, Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals introduces his famous Categorical Imperative and lays down a foundation for all of Immanuel Kant's writings.

'The finest single-volume introduction to Kant's ethics available in English.' -PHILOSOPHICAL REVIEW, on the H.

Groundwork of the metaphysic of morals