- The Project
- What is the Supreme Principle of Morality?
- Does the Supreme Principle of Morality Exist?
The Project
Kant’s project in the Groundwork is “the search for and establishment of the supreme principle of morality”, i.e., the moral law (G 4:392). There are two questions:
- What is the supreme principle of morality?
- Does the supreme principle of morality exist?
The first question, “What is the supreme principle of morality?”, is answered in the first two sections of the Groundwork. The second question, “Does the supreme principle of morality exist?”, is only answered in the third section.
What is the Supreme Principle of Morality?
The first section provides a provisional answer: The supreme principle of morality is the categorical imperative represented by the Formula of Universal Law. The second section provides a more complete answer: The categorical imperative is represented by a system of three formulas (two of which have variant formulations):
FIRST FORMULA
- The Formula of Universal Law: “Act only in accordance with that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it become a universal law.” (G 4:421; 4:402)
- The Formula of the Law of Nature: “Act as if the maxim of your action were to become by your will a universal law of nature.” (G 4:421; 4:436)
SECOND FORMULA
- The Formula of Humanity: “So act that you use humanity, whether in your own person or that of another, always at the same time as an end, never merely as a means.” (G 4:429; 4:436)
THIRD FORMULA
- The Formula of Autonomy: “…the idea of the will of every rational being as a will giving universal law.” (G 4:431; 4:432)
- The Formula of the Kingdom of Ends: “Act in accordance with the maxims of a member giving universal laws for a merely possible kingdom of ends.” (G 4:439; 4:433; 4:437; 4:438)
Kant claims that the three formulas represent the same principle and that they differ only in representing different aspects of that same principle (G 4:436–437). Kant also claims that for appraisal of an action the first formula is best, but that for access to the moral law the three formulas should be applied to one and the same action thereby bringing the moral law closer to intuition and thereby feeling.
Does the Supreme Principle of Morality Exist?
The conclusions of the first two sections are conditional: If the supreme principle of morality exists, it must have a certain character. The existence of the supreme principle of morality is only established in the third section. There Kant argues that the supreme principle of morality as represented by the Formula of Autonomy is only valid for the human will just in case it is free and that in order to act at all the freedom of the will must be presupposed (G 4:447–448). Thus while Kant does not demonstrate the existence of the supreme principle of morality, he nevertheless argues that we must presuppose its existence if we are to act at all.
