Kant's Ethical Philosophy? Please explain this law:?

Question

'Act so as to treat humanity, whether in thine person or in that of another, in every case as an end and never as a means".

Thank you for your time.

Answer 1

The categorical imperative: to care at all times of the person you are dealing with no matter how tangential they are to your main purpose.
Kant was reputedly quite an affable fellow who was regarded as good company down at his local hostelry. Better marks for that than any philosophy. Also I think he was of Scottish ancestry which does not accord with my view of Scottish people. Lermontov was also of Scottish descent I believe. This foregoing accords with my own categorical imperative that charity begins with yourself not others. There is something in what Kabir says:
I must never forget that none's my true companion here, For all are gathered here for selfish ends. But the foolish mind can never understand this, Cannot believe this is all illusion.
Have to say with chagrin the person just below me is probably more correct than me. I am just doing a remix.

Answer 2

In Kant's ethics, person is an absolute value.

I will start with one very simple example. One is getting married for someone ONLY because of money, not because of love and special feelings toward this person. This is to use another person as a means, not as an end. The person is misused by another person for reaching her own goals and interests, different from goals that should be common for both of them. This is just a simplification.

However, in Kant's ethics it is not necessary (and even not enough) to have personal and emotional relations with other people to act morally, so we should rely on our pure reason to be able to accept and respect other human being as a person because person is an absolute value, no matter what one means to us and whether he or she can help us in reaching our goals. Of course, we can use other people in some way to reach our goals, we can use contacts we have and we can use help they offer, but what we have to have in mind all the time is to respect them as PERSONS not only as some kind of PROVIDERS of our needs and expectations as well as we are expecting to be treated the same way.

Answer 3

Categorical imperative.

"Act only on that maxim through which you can at the same time wish that it should become a universal law"

Simply put, act according to a principle that you would want all others to follow if they were in your position.

Answer 4

Simply stated don't use people. Cherish people.