User:Fan Singh Long/sandbox

Testing stuff
That an action done from duty derives its moral worth, not from the purpose which is to be attained by it, but from the maxim by which it is determined, and therefore does not depend on the realization of the object of the action, but merely on the principle of volition by which the action has taken place, without regard to any object of desire.

On this origin are founded many expressions which designate the worth of objects according to moral ideas. The moral law is holy (inviolable). Man is indeed unholy enough, but he must regard humanity in his own person as holy. In all creation every thing one chooses and over which one has any power, may be used merely as means; man alone, and with him every rational creature, is an end in himself. By virtue of the autonomy of his freedom he is the subject of the moral law, which is holy. just for this reason every will, even every person's own individual will, in relation to itself, is restricted to the condition of agreement with the autonomy of the rational being, that is to say, that it is not to be subject to any purpose which cannot accord with a law which might arise from the will of the passive subject himself; the latter is, therefore, never to be employed merely as means, but as itself also, concurrently, an end. We justly attribute this condition even to the Divine will, with regard to the rational beings in the world, which are His creatures, since it rests on their personality, by which alone they are ends in themselves.

Outline2
Although all Kant's work contains relations to his ethical theories, he clearly defines them in the works Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten, Kritik der praktischen Vernunft and Die Metaphysik de Sitten. Kant did not set out to tell people what to do, as his critics point out, but to help people determine how to behave by using reason , like a true enlightenment thinker. In doing so, he developed five formulations of his moral law. The three most important are: the Formula of Universal Law, the Formula of Humanity as an Ends in Itself, and the Formula of Autonomy. Each of his formulations was derived from the categorical imperative.

In his combined works Kant constructed a basis for an ethical law. This, to Kant, can be summed up by the term morality. Although morality and ethics can amount to the same thing, Kantian terminology restricts morality to a notion of duty. Kant uses the word duty as opposed to a more selfish motive to reach a certain goal or obtain a certain use. Duty, in that sense, makes the intent universally applicable. Kant argued that the only thing in the world which could be intrinsically good is a good will. He defended this by arguing that an action is only 'good' if it is performed out of duty towards the moral law. All human behavior is based on maxims (reason, subjective principles of action) according to Kant and when maxims can be universally applied to all autonomous beings in the same situation (universal), that maxim is called categorical. When it cannot be universally applied, and therefore is done for some personal use or gain, it is called hypothetical.

In his Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten Kant constructs his theory and in his Kritik der praktischen Vernunft he connects the moral law with God, calling it divine, as essential laws (a priori) of every free will in itself. Later he connects his moral philosophies with politics and law in his Die Metaphysik de Sitten.