Morality, Freedom, Reason

Kant is generally thought to be among the most difficult thinkers to understand, and for good reason. But it is not because his ideas are so obscure, but because they are complex convergences of familiar notions. For example, he demonstrates how Morality, Freedom, and Reason intersect, that is, to be Moral is to be Free is to act Rationally. For him, Morality, if it is to have any dignity at all, must be an end, not a means to something else. In other words, being 'good' with the expectation of a reward, or to avoid punishment, is not being Moral at all. Hence, it cannot be a conditioned response of any kind, whether to an incentive or a threat, even from a Diety, or to physical or emotional drives, which seek only their own satisfaction. So, Morality can only be freely generated, and, furthermore, the only force capable of such independence from subjective circumstance or condition is Reason. For, Reason is the power of transcending the merely selfish, since what it asserts pertains to any person, regardless of particular nature or situation. Conversely, it is impersonal Reason that is the source of the notion that others are like ourselves, which informs common Moral formulas such as 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you'. And, Reason originates its own principle of generative power, often characterized by Kant as the 'Categorical Imperative', which means that any purely rational conduct is autonomous. So, for Kant, Morality, Freedom, and Reason are one and the same, which, if nothing else, poses a challenge to anyone who might believe that they have any one of them without the other two.