Your own maxim
Test a rule from your everyday life with Kant's questions — including the formula of humanity.
Dignity
The absolute worth of the person: what has a price can be replaced — what has dignity admits of no equivalent.
In the “Groundwork” Kant distinguishes dignity from price: things have a market or fancy price and can be exchanged; persons, by contrast, have dignity — an inner, unconditional worth. The ground of this dignity is autonomy: the capacity to give the moral law to oneself.
From this follows the prohibition of instrumentalisation: a human being may never be used merely as a means. The idea remains influential today — for instance in Article 1 of the German Basic Law and in the “object formula” of constitutional doctrine, which forbids reducing people to mere objects of state action.
Try it yourself
Dilemma workshop
Tricky cases based on Kant's own examples: decide for yourself first, then Kant speaks.
Where it appears
- Ethics — The categorical imperative
- The Metaphysics of Morals — Structure & core theses
- Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals — Structure & key ideas
- Critique of Practical Reason — Legacy & relevance today
- FAQ
- Home — Kant in five minutes
- Kant against Kant
Source: Wikipedia: Dignity