What are the principles for acting morally, according to Kant?
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Kant’s only fundamental principle is the Categorical Imperative: “Act only on maxims that you can will to be universal laws.”
What this amounts to is that you’re supposed to imagine everybody in situations like yours taking actions like yours. If that’s impossible (e.g., “Whenever I meet a stranger, I kill them.” The stranger is also in the situation of meeting a stranger, but one of you is going to die before succeeding in killing the other.) or undesirable (e.g., “While competing at sports, I take performance enhancing drugs.” It *is* possible for all sports competitors to take the drugs, but you won’t be any better off if everyone does it than you would be if no one–including you–did it. Worse off, probably, if the drugs in question are bad for you.), then don’t take the action you’re contemplating.
Kant believes that that principle is the only one you need. The rest of morality can be deduced from it. However, a particularly noteworthy principle that he deduces from it, which he thinks is equivalent to it and thus is also suitable to be used as the sole principle of morality if one wants, is the Practical Imperative: “Always treat humanity as an end in itself, never as a mere means.”
What this amounts to is that you’re not supposed to do things to people without their consent (e.g., rape or slavery), and also not supposed to do things to them that would damage their ability to give or withhold consent to future actions (e.g., homicide, even if consensual). In short, while making decisions, you’re supposed to respect other people’s right to also make decisions.
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