I do not, therefore, need any penetrating acuteness to see what I have to do in order that my volition be morally good. Inexperienced in the course of the world, incapable of being prepared for whatever might come to pass in it, I ask myself only: can you also will that your maxim become a universal law?
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- To act morally you need not be a genius; just ask whether your action could be a universal rule.
- In plain terms
- Moral actions follow the universal‑law test.
- What can you take from it?
- Use the categorical imperative as a quick moral check.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Can every action be reduced to a universal maxim?
- When does context matter more than principle?
Another view
Complex situations may not fit neatly into a single universal rule.
More from Immanuel Kant
I ought never to act except in such a way that I could also will that my maxim should become a universal law.
Permalink to quote #15 Even if there never have been actions arising from such pure sources, what is at issue here is not whether this or that happened; that, instead, reason by itse…
Permalink to quote #17 A metaphysics of morals is therefore indispensably necessary, not merely because of a motive to speculation- for investigating the source of the practical basi…
Permalink to quote #14
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