Single Idea 3715

[catalogued under 23. Ethics / D. Deontological Ethics / 1. Deontology]

Full Idea

Agreeable results could be brought about by other causes;…therefore nothing but the idea of the law in itself, which is present only in a rational being, can constitute that pre-eminent good which we call moral.

Gist of Idea

Other causes can produce nice results, so morality must consist in the law, found only in rational beings

Source

Immanuel Kant (Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals [1785], 401.15)

Book Reference

Kant,Immanuel: 'The Moral Law (Groundwork of Morals)', ed/tr. Paton,H.J. [Hutchinson 1948], p.66