Kingdom of Ends

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Immanuel Kant
Major works Critique of Pure Reason Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics "Answering the Question: What Is Enlightenment?" Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals Critique of Practical Reason Critique of Judgment Religion within the Bounds of Bare Reason Perpetual Peace The Metaphysics of Morals "On a Supposed Right to Tell Lies from Benevolent Motives" Opus Postumum
Kantianism • Kantian ethics Transcendental idealism Critical philosophy Sapere aude Thing-in-itself Schema A priori and a posteriori Analytic–synthetic distinction Noumenon Category Categorical imperative Hypothetical imperative "Kingdom of Ends" Political philosophy Teleology
People J. G. Fichte G. W. F. Hegel David Hume F. H. Jacobi Arthur Schopenhauer Baruch Spinoza
Related topics German idealism Neo-Kantianism
Category • Philosophy portal

The Kingdom of Ends (German: Reich der Zwecke) is a part of the categorical imperative theory of Immanuel Kant. It is regularly discussed in relation to Kant's moral theory and its application to ethics and philosophy in general.

The kingdom of ends centers on the second and third formulations of the categorical imperative. These help form the basis for Kant's universalizing ethical theory for society. Kant introduced the concept in his Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (4:439), considering a world in which all human beings are treated as ends (meaning treated as if they and their well-being are the goal), not as mere means to an end for other people.