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Single Idea 4507

[filed under theme 23. Ethics / D. Deontological Ethics / 4. Categorical Imperative ]

Full Idea

One needed God as an unconditional sanction, as a 'categorical imperative'; or, if one believed in the authority of reason, one needed a metaphysic of unity, by virtue of which this was logical.

Gist of Idea

The categorical imperative needs either God behind it, or a metaphysic of the unity of reason

Source

Friedrich Nietzsche (The Will to Power (notebooks) [1888], §275)

Book Ref

Nietzsche,Friedrich: 'The Will to Power', ed/tr. Kaufmann,W /Hollingdate,R [Vintage 1968], p.157


A Reaction

I am not sure what a 'metaphysic of unity' is, but this still captures the problem with Kant. The categorical imperative is purely formal, and will justify consistent principles of pain and destruction, without some value to get it off the ground.