Kant’s account of treating human beings as ends: perfect duty, imperfect duty and their interrelation

Dan Dennis, University of Edinburgh (9 Oct 2004)

Second SPPA Seminar Day, University of Glasgow

The similarities and differences between perfect and imperfect duties are explored. It is shown that imperfect duties are not weak or second-rate duties and that one must do one's perfect and imperfect duty simultaneously. This means that the accounts that one adopts of what constitutes perfection and what brings happiness, must be such that when acting on them: one promotes happiness and perfection whilst never reducing the dignity & humanity of any human being. This provides a constraint on one's decision regarding which accounts of perfection and happiness to adopt, with any account that fails to satisfy this constraint being dismissed.

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