Short essay about Kant

Perhaps one of the most influential philosophers of modern time Immanuel Kant created his doctrine on the categorical imperative and spoke of duty as the prime factor in life but still acknowledged in the end that there was a link to God , a reason for the categorical imperative . He basically believed that the highest moral rule was determined by the categorical imperative . Based on the first maxim that one must Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law . As such

, it is clear that morality , for Kant , was not based so much on the circumstances of the act but the absoluteness of the act

This common sense of duty is borne out of goodwill which to Kant is like a norm or compass that will inevitably steer a person right . While this has been compared to the Golden Rule , it is clear that they are different for the reason that the Golden Rule can be made to conform or adapt to one 's own standard , the categorical imperative , on the other hand , does not allow for that and places the standard for good morals in reason of man . Man , therefore , should never be seen as simply the means or the way to morality but as an end goal in itself . Though it is possible to have man be the end and the means at the same time , it is not possible to have man be the means...