Immanuel Kant, like his predecessors John Locke and Thomas Hobbes, believed that morality was based on standards of rationality. His influential work, The Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals, argues for the existence of a “fundamental principle of a metaphysics of morals.” 1 This principle, he asserts, must account for three moral propositions: only actions performed out of duty have an authentic moral value, the moral value derives from the maxim that its action implies, not from the purpose that must be achieved through it, and that a duty is an obligation to act in a specific way within the law.2 Kant calls this fundamental principle the categorical imperative. Kant's categorical imperative is a method of determining the morality of an action based on whether the action is objectively necessary, and is the first of two types of imperatives. Such an action is good in itself, not just as a means to some other end. Since Kant believes that all people have a rational will, the categorical imperative applies to everyone, guiding them to act in the same way regardless of circumstance or prejudice. Ignores the consequences of an action and judges it moral or immoral based on intentions alone. One such imperative is “Thou shalt not lie,” which Kant holds to be a valid maxim in all cases. The categorical imperative is based on the unique idea that one should act only according to maxims that can reasonably and without contradiction become universal law. As such, it does not consider the details of the circumstances and remains universally true, because it is based solely on a priori concepts. I will further explain Kant's formulations of this imperative for a moment. Now that we've just looked at the first type of imperative,...... middle of the paper... aw. Kant rewrites this concept of universalizing maxims for determining duty in a second formulation that, although it tests actions differently, in his view leads to the same moral conclusions. The second formulation of Kant's categorical imperative is "to act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of anyone else, always as an end and never simply as a means." This principle is intended to label how behaviors that use humanity simply as a means to achieve one's ends are immoral. This does not mean that using people as a means is always wrong, but only that their humanity must be recognized simultaneously as an exemplary maxim. I will intentionally make empty promises for the benefit of my well-being", used above, this action remains impermissible in terms of the second formulation. Works Cited http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-morale/