Immanuel Kant's Trolley Problems

I interpret Immanuel Kant’s formula of “never simply as a means but always at the same time as an end” (Kant) to mean that one must act in such a way in which pushes for you to treat someone with respect and be sincere for their maxims, or purposes. The organization of his diction in this formula creates a sense of mutual respect between one another’s intentions, yet at the same time, one must not try and solely better their happiness by lying or conducting a false promise to receive someone’s agreement on a matter in which the person knows whom is making the promise to, would say no. In other words, Kant highly bases his moral views on respect, and he preaches that you should not use someone to better yourself because they simply did not give their consent to you, making your actions disrespectful to the others. The trolley problem is a prime example on how Kant implements his rule by allowing one to test their moral intuitions by also using his formula to increase utilitarianism in the most ethical way. For many variations of the trolley problem allows one to see how the rule is applied and how it affects the …show more content…
This is why I believe he created this moral formula. In his quote, he says “never simply as a means but always…as an end”. This can become confusing to many readers for Kant is commonly difficult to understand. He uses the term “means” as in how you treat humanity, whether in an optimistic way or in a way in which you use your intentions to solely better yourself and possibly hurt the other. To use someone as “mere means” is basically using someone. It is using a person in a scheme of action in which they do not consent to. Lastly, “as an end”, can refer to how someone tries to find the good in both situations or how you should seek happiness through one another