Full Idea
Kant is often held to have completed a task begun by Grotius, giving a basis for natural law which does not invoke the will of God, but rather commands God himself to obedience.
Gist of Idea
Kant completed Grotius's project of a non-religious basis for natural law
Source
comment on Immanuel Kant (Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals [1785]) by Roger Scruton - A Dictionary of Political Thought 'Kant'
Book Reference
Scruton,Roger: 'A Dictionary of Political Thought' [Pan 1983], p.246
A Reaction
This project, if successful, would clinch the naturalistic response to the Euthyphro Question (Ideas 336 and 337). It is a key issue for atheists, who generally wish to deny that their lack of religion leads inevitably to amorality.
Related Ideas
Idea 336 Is what is pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because they love it? (the 'Euthyphro Question') [Plato]
Idea 337 It seems that the gods love things because they are pious, rather than making them pious by loving them [Plato]