Kant opens the Groundwork (1785) by claiming that only one thing is good 'without qualification.' What is it, and why?
A shopkeeper always gives correct change to inexperienced customers because a reputation for honesty is good for business. On Kant's analysis, this action is…
Which best captures the difference between a hypothetical and a categorical imperative?
Why does the maxim 'I will make a lying promise whenever it is convenient' fail the Formula of Universal Law?
Kant's Formula of Humanity says to treat humanity 'never merely as a means.' What does the word 'merely' do here?
What is 'autonomy' in Kant's ethics, and what is its opposite, 'heteronomy'?
Kant distinguishes what has a 'price' from what has 'dignity.' A rational, autonomous being has dignity, which means…
Kant claims 'a free will and a will under moral laws are one and the same.' What is his reasoning?
✍️ Open answer · AI-graded
Kant argues that his account of Enlightenment (1784) and his ethics of autonomy (1785) express a single ideal. Reconstruct that claim: explain what autonomy is and how it contrasts with heteronomy, and show how it unifies the mature thinker of 'What is Enlightenment?' with the moral agent of the Groundwork. Then explain in what sense, for Kant, genuine freedom is not caprice but self-legislation.
What to cover: Define autonomy and heteronomy precisely, connect 'sapere aude' / self-incurred immaturity to the refusal of heteronomy, and explain Kant's thesis that a free will and a will under moral law are the same. Avoid the trap of equating autonomy with 'doing as you please.'
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