Nicomachean Ethics
Aristotle · Ancient · Philosophy
Enlightenment · Ethics
Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
by Immanuel Kant. Kant develops the categorical imperative and treats rational persons as autonomous ends rather than mere means.
Find a print edition
Browse Bookshop.org's current catalog to choose an available edition.
Some purchase links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
- Date
- 1785
- Origin
- Prussia (Germany)
- Genre
- Ethics
- Canon tier
- Essential core
- Difficulty
- Challenging
- Length
- Medium
- Collection
- The Western Canon
Subjects and themes
Author reading order
Where Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals fits
Begin with What Is Enlightenment? for Kant's compact account of intellectual maturity. Move next to the Groundwork for his moral vocabulary, then approach the Critique of Pure Reason with those stakes already in view.
Explore the Immanuel Kant starting guideContinue exploring
Place Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals in context
Why it matters
Kant develops the categorical imperative and treats rational persons as autonomous ends rather than mere means.
This work is included on the basis of broader great books. Its cataloged influence level is 5 out of 5.
Related works
Utilitarianism
John Stuart Mill · Victorian · Philosophy / economics
Beyond Good and Evil
Friedrich Nietzsche · 19th Century · Philosophy
Reading paths featuring Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
Continue through a deliberately ordered journey that places this work in conversation with others.
Essential 100
A century of works that gives the broadest useful first view of the Western canon. 100 books · Advanced.
Essential Philosophy
A ten-work route through virtue, political order, self-command, knowledge, morality, liberty, and the critique of inherited values. 10 books · Advanced.