The book is famously obscure, and it is partly because of this that Kant later, in 1788, decided to publish the Critique of Practical Reason. He then works backwards from there to prove the relevance and weight of the moral law. Kant's argument works from common reason up to the supreme unconditional law, in order to identify its existence. The groundwork is broken into a preface, followed by three sections. This stands in stark contrast to the moral sense theories and teleological moral theories that dominated moral philosophy at the time of Kant's career. He provides a groundbreaking argument that the rightness of an action is determined by the principle that a person chooses to act upon. Central to the work is the role of what Kant refers to as the categorical imperative, the concept that one must act only according to that precept which he or she would will to become a universal law.

Kant purposes to lay bare the fundamental principle of morality and show that it applies to us. Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, written by legendary author Immanuel Kant, is widely considered to be one of the greatest classic texts of all time. Kant conceives his investigation as a work of foundational ethics - one that clears the ground for future research by explaining the core concepts and principles of moral theory, and showing that they are normative for rational agents. Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals: with On a Supposed Right to Lie because of Philanthropic Concerns (Hackett Classics). Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals is the first of Immanuel Kant's mature works on moral philosophy and remains one of the most influential in the field.

Grounding for the metaphysics of morals