The Foundations of Kant's Metaphysics of Morals In "The Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals" Immanuel Kant proposes that good will is the only thing that is good and that a person should "act only according to that maxim which would be universal”(273); Kant calls this test of morality the categorical imperative. Kant believes that the IC can be formulated in many different ways, a. The formula of universal lawb. The formula of the end in sec. The Formula of the Kingdom of Ends Kant held scientific laws as model rational principles. A characteristic of scientific laws is that they are universal, like the law that, when heated, gas expands or moral principles had to have universality to be rational. Kant derives the categorical imperative from the idea that we should be willing to adopt those moral principles that can be universalized, that is, those according to which we can imagine everyone can act or adopt as their own. principle. Therefore the first formulation of the categorical imperative is: "Act only on the basis of that maxim which you can will as a universal law". or the Formula of Universal Law. Consider Kant's example of a false promise. Making false promises is wrong, because it is not possible to imagine everyone adopting it as a principle of action. If everyone did it, promising would be meaningless. Cases in which a world in which everyone acts according to a maxim simply could not exist because everyone's attempts would be destructive to everyone's continued ability to do so: "Some actions are so constituted that their maxim cannot even be conceived as universal. .. middle of the paper ...to be a universal law starting from our individual situations, with the knowledge of our social status, our natural gifts, race, sex and what we individually value principles would it be rational for a person to want everyone to be governed if we make that choice from a "position of ignorance" regarding our individual situations, behind the veil of ignorance, all people have the same interests as rational people The real claim of the IC of Kant is that we act only according to maxims that do not conflict with the principles that it would be rational to choose as universal law from behind a 'veil of ignorance'. Works Cited "Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals" - Kant "The Categorical Imperative" - ​​Paton "Blackwell's Guide to Ethical Theory" - LaFollette