Constituting a Totality

To constitute a Totality, a Principle must entail the production of both a diversity and a unity. Kant's Principle of Pure Practical Reason generates the latter with its universalizability requirement. It accomplishes the former by addressing an entity that acts upon maxims. A Maxim is a causal connection applied to the pursuit of purposes--some entity wants to achieve some E, there is available a theoretical law that asserts that M causes E, so the entity adopts the maxim, 'In order to achieve E, I will do M'. In the process, the calculation and application of the causal law is rational behavior, but as Aristotle and Hume agree, while E itself might have been adopted as a means to some other end, ultimately, there is some end which is not the product of calculation. Hence, the use of maxims in behavior is never more than partially rational, and the adopter of a maxim is ultimately no more than a node in a causal chain, i. e. is indistinguishable from any other responder to a stimulus. Kant's Principle breaks the chain, offering an alternative which can be freely chosen, only, which, when chosen, individuates the choser. Thus, via its distributive 'you', it produces a diversity, which it also unifies, thereby constituting a Totality.