What a ‘groundwork’ of moral philosophy can and cannot do

To avoid disappointment, readers of the Groundwork are well advised to keep in mind the very specific nature of Kant's project. What does he intend to achieve? Which questions does he not even try to address?

Let us start with what not to expect from a Grundlegung. The word can be used to describe the activity of laying the foundations of something or, when this is graced with success, its result. We would therefore expect the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals to contain the principles of another, distinct philosophical project. Indeed, that is how Kant describes the task that lies ahead in the Preface. The first five or so pages contain a careful discussion of the nature and necessity of a future metaphysics of morals, and it is only towards the end that Kant turns to the prior, ‘critical’ task of grounding this novel discipline. The slim volume is clearly part of the foundational project that preoccupied Kant during the 1770s and 1780s.

If the Groundwork does not claim to be a complete guide to ethical theory or moral life as a whole, it would be a mistake to try to reduce Kantian ethics to this book, even if we judge it to be Kant's most profound or influential contribution to moral philosophy.