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Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals

Immanuel Kant

Deontology · Intermediate

The short book behind most modern rights talk and the standard rival to utilitarian ethics.

Immanuel Kant · first circulated 1785

Main ideas

  • Morality grounded in rational law rather than consequence.
  • Persons treated as ends in themselves.

Important themes

DutyAutonomyDignity

Reading context

A short book from 1785 setting out to find the supreme principle of morality. Kant wants a moral law binding on any rational being, not only on people like us.

How to approach it

Read the preface and Section 1, where he moves from ordinary moral judgement to the principle behind it. Section 3 is the hardest and least conclusive. Test each version of the categorical imperative against a case of your own.