Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals

Kant’s work takes place within the broader context of the Enlightenment Era of European thought. The Enlightenment Era spanned from the late 1600s to the early 1800s. Enlightenment thinkers hoped to remove a metaphorical shroud of darkness they saw as clouding intellectual efforts. This darkness came from an over-reliance on religion and legend, which many thinkers saw as forces that drove the masses away from logic and reason. Many prominent Enlightenment scholars wrote about human nature and political participation. The impact of these philosophers resonated globally: many of their ideas are on display in revolutionary texts, such as the Declaration of Independence and Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement that spanned multiple disciplines. In philosophy, its influence drove thinkers to consider reason as a fundamental human quality. As such, many thinkers from this period encouraged secularization so humanity could focus more heavily on cultivating their logical faculties. Instead of purely relying on the church to determine how to act morally, humans should utilize their own rational cognition. This intellectual tradition is apparent in Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, as the crux of Kant’s argument rests on the assertion that humans can use reason to understand moral laws. The influence of the Enlightenment is also apparent in Kant’s distinction between rational and empirical thought. Kant’s creation of the categorical imperative can be understood in the broader context of the Enlightenment since it relies heavily on the unique human ability to use reason to see others as equals. His explanation of a priori cognition can also be understood through this lens, as it implies the human mind is powerful enough to fully comprehend morality without any outside influence. It is especially clear when Kant argues that living in the intelligible world is what allows us to fully utilize our autonomous rational wills.

Criticisms of Kant’s moral philosophy can be interpreted as pushback against Enlightenment ideas. The Enlightenment’s elevation of reasoning clearly influenced Kant’s arguments. However, subsequent generations of philosophers, such as Friedrich Hegel, argued that Kant’s faith in reason yielded policies that were too abstract. A common criticism of Kant is that it is impossible to separate ideas of morality from our world. Many of Kant’s examples are dependent on our own social norms. For instance, the example of a false promise resonates with readers because our society praises those who live honestly and demonize those who lie. However, this would not hold in a world with a fundamentally different moral code. This demonstrates a possible weakness in the Enlightenment idea of the power of reason.