Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals

Kant’s work takes place within the broader context of the Enlightenment Era of European thought. The Enlightenment Era spanned from the late 1600s to the early 1800s. Enlightenment thinkers hoped to remove a metaphorical shroud of darkness they saw as clouding intellectual efforts. This darkness came from an over-reliance on religion and legend, which many thinkers saw as forces that drove the masses away from logic and reason. Many prominent Enlightenment scholars wrote about human nature and political participation. The impact of these philosophers resonated globally: many of their ideas are on display in revolutionary texts, such as the Declaration of Independence and Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.

The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement that spanned multiple disciplines. In philosophy, its influence drove thinkers to consider reason as a fundamental human quality. As such, many thinkers from this period encouraged secularization so humanity could focus more heavily on cultivating their logical faculties. Instead of purely relying on the church to determine how to act morally, humans should utilize their own rational cognition. This intellectual tradition is apparent in Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, as the crux of Kant’s argument rests on the