Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals

Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785; German: Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten; also known as the Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals Grounding of the Metaphysics of Morals and the Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals) is the first of Immanuel Kant''s mature works on moral philosophy and remains one of the most influential in the field alongside Plato''s Republic and Aristotle''s Nicomachean Ethics. In Kant''s own words its aim is to identify and corroborate the supreme principle of morality the categorical imperative. He argues that human beings are ends in themselves never to be used by anyone merely as a means and that universal and unconditional obligations must be understood as an expression of the human capacity for autonomy and self-governance. As such they are laws of freedom.