Debating Points

Immanuel Kant for Dummies

The most fundamental of all the liberal principles handed down to us from the Enlightenment and the very cornerstone of our civilization is the "categorical imperative" of Immanuel Kant: KANT One cannot act on that maxim which one cannot will to be universal. In other words, if it's OK for me to do it, it has to be OK for everybody to do it. If it's not OK for everybody to do it, then it's not OK for me to do it either. = SOMEONE YOU KNOW "What I just can't get pastis that we are saying it's OK for us to have nuclear weapons, but it's not OK for the North Koreans or the Iranians." Slapdown = "That the Kantian principle cannot apply in international relations, at least not unless we are prepared to adopt a thoroughgoing pacifist and (I would say) suicidal policy by disarming and disbanding our armed forces and refusing to fight against those who wish us harm. So long as we admit that a nation has the right to defend itself, we must also admit that it is necessary to adopt a different standard for ourselves and for our enemies." Immanuel Kant for Dummies