FundamentalPrinciplesoftheMetaphysicsofMorals

Whatismorallypermissible，andwhatismorallyobligatory?Thesequestionsformthecoreofavastamountofphilosophicalreasoning.InhisFundamentalPrinciplesoftheMetaphysicsofMorals，ImmanuelKantdevelopedabasisfortheanswers.
Inthislandmarkwork，theGermanphilosopheraskswhatsortofmaximmightfunctionasaguidetoappropriateactionunderagivensetofcircumstances.Byuniversalizingsuchamaxim，wouldmorallypermissiblebehaviornotbecomeclear?Supposethateveryoneweretobehaveinaccordancewiththismaxim.Ifeveryonefollowedthemaximinthesamewaywithoutharmtocivilizedculture，thenthebehaviorwouldbemorallypermissible.Butwhatifnoonefollowedthemaxim?Wouldcivilizationtherebybeatrisk?Insuchacase，thebehaviorwouldbemorallyobligatory.
Kant'stest，knownastheCategoricalImperative，isalogicalproofoftheGoldenRuleandthecenterpieceofthiswork.Itconstituteshisbest-knowncontributiontoethicaldiscussion，andafamiliaritywithhisreasoninginthisbookisessentialtostudentsofphilosophy，religion，andhistory.，