In our translation of Kant’s Groundwork for a Metaphysics of Morals, at the end of the first paragraph on page 4:431 (the one that continues from 4:430), he provides the formula of autonomy. In the next paragraph of the text, Kant elaborates on this formula. Explain the formula of autonomy in your own words. What is the significance of this formula in relation to many of the reasons that people give for obeying laws or doing the right thing? In other words, what reason(s) do people usually give to children (and sometimes adults) to get them to behave? (You might want to consider the typical reasons that parents give to their children as to why they should share toys with others or why they should be nice to others. Or consider the reasons adults give for obeying their societies’ laws or the dictates of their faiths.) What would Kant say to those children (or adults)?
