The Third Formulation
| “ | Therefore, every rational being must so act as if he were through his maxim always a legislating member in the universal kingdom of ends. | ” |
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—Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals |
Because a truly autonomous will would not be subjugated to any interest, it would only be subject to those laws it makes for itself — but it must also regard those laws as if they would be bound to others, or they would not be universalizable, and hence they would not be laws of conduct at all. Thus Kant presents the notion of the hypothetical Kingdom of Ends of which he suggests all people should consider themselves both means and ends.
"Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always at the same time as an end and never merely as a means." We ought to act only by maxims that would harmonize with a possible kingdom of ends. We have perfect duty not to act by maxims that create incoherent or impossible states of natural affairs when we attempt to universalize them, and we have imperfect duty not to act by maxims that lead to unstable or greatly undesirable states of affairs.
Read more about this topic: Categorical Imperative
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