What does Immanuel Kant mean when he says to not use humans as a means to your end?

Question

How does this also relate to morals and politics in perpetual peace?

and how the ends must justify the means

Answer 1

Kant would view it a categorical imperative not to use people for any reason but to enlist their services as a means to their own end. For example it would be wrong to kill one person to wave a hundred people if that one person did not value the lives of the hundred people saved more than that person valued his/her own life. If the person knowingly wanted to make such a sacrifice then Kant would say the ends justified the means in that instance. You can apply this model to peace and you begin to see how the price of peace is only justifiable if everyone making a sacrifice for that peace is knowingly and willingly choosing to sacrifice for that peace. That is the only way to achieve a truly perpetual peace. Kant would go on to sy that the only good will is doing good for goodness sake. Hense, any action done for any reason other than to achieve the desired end or disguised in such a manner as to hide the desired end would be morally bankrupt. As for politics you should be able to see how kant might have some difficulty in accepting a representative form of gvernment in that it creates a situation where the needs of the one may be overlooked for the needs of the many. Hence, the only good form of government must be a truly democratic form of government in which the means, or the people, are serving their own ends.

Answer 2

Hi,

If I go to the shop to buy some bread then going to the shop is a means to the end of acquiring some bread. Think if 'end' here to mean something like purpose. But going to the sea or the woods might be an end in itself.

If I force or persuade some person to do something for me, say go to the shops and buy my bread when there is nothing to be gained in the action by them, then I am using them as a means to my end. Instead, Kant argues, I should value them as an end in itself.

So, if I value someone as an end in itself I must respect their autonomy, as Kant would say. That is, I must allow them the right of self-determination, I must not apply duress. So, already we can see how important this is for morals and politics. Owning a slave or treating an employee unfairly is not allowed.

Answer 3

Humans aren't perfect, very fallible. And the ENDS justifies the means by telling us there is a pot of gold after the rainbow.

Answer 4

That's bad. How can you use them to get your wants when you don't even know what they want. It's not fair because you're assuming you're better than anyone. People who do that are wrong. Use yourself as your means to the end. Self sufficiency is power, not the other way around. When you use people, you are not self sufficient.

Answer 5

Don't use people to get ahead. Don't step on people while striving for what you want. It's a moral he belives in, and he believes that if everyone subscribed to that moral, we would achieve peace. He also believed that in politics people tend to trod on people while on their way to achieving power, which is anti-productive to achieving peace.

Answer 6

We ALL use humans as means to an end... especially in business, and without commerce where would we be. Puuleeeeze.

Answer 7

Don't use people to get what you want. Respect everyone on their individual merits, by virtue of their humanity.

Answer 8

Value each person as important and unique as you yourself.