display all the ideas for this combination of texts
1 idea
3730 | Non-rational beings only have a relative value, as means rather than as ends [Kant] |
Full Idea: Beings whose existence depends not on our will but on nature have, if they are non-rational beings, only a relative value as means and are consequently called 'things' (rather than 'persons'). | |
From: Immanuel Kant (Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals [1785], 428.65) | |
A reaction: Ugh. Is there nothing in between 'persons' and 'things'? How about a deeply comatose human, or an embryo? It is a gross distortion to think of a chimpanzee as a 'thing'. |