Groundhog Day Moral Analysis

What would you do if tomorrow never arrives? In the movie Groundhog Day, weatherman Phil Connors dealt with this question. He was forced to relive the same day over and over again, and he needed to decide on what to do with this repeating day. If there is no tomorrow, it is true that “we could do whatever we wanted” since “there would be no consequences”, as said by the two drunken men in the movie. However, we should also ask ourselves what aspects should we based our choices of actions on. In Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, philosopher Immanuel Kant discussed this question by explaining the aspects that contributes to a morally right action. Based on the implications of what contributes to a moral action through the movie and Kant’s …show more content…
If I am forced to live on the same day forever, I would do things that benefit the others rather than take advantage of others just for serving my selfishness. In Kant’s perspective, one should treat others “as an end and never merely as a means”. In other words, one should not manipulate others for achieving personal goals, no matter those people have the consent or not. Instead, one should act just, fair, and beneficently for the others. In the movie, when Phil noticed that only he is aware of this time loop, he began to take advantage of this situation. He drank and drove recklessly, he stole money from the armored car, he seduced other women, and he tried to manipulate his coworker Rita. According to Kant, Phil’s action in this case is not moral because he used others as a tool to achieve his desires. He treated others as means. Eventually, Phil decided to help the town’s people, where he saved the boy from falling off a tree, prevented the mayor from chocking to death, helped the old ladies to fix their car, and began to appreciate his coworkers and job, and eventually his