| Categorical imperative | Kant's term for an absolute moral rule that is justified because of its logic: If you can wish for your maxim to become a universal law, your maxim qualifies as a categorical imperative.
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| Deontology | Duty-theory. An ethical theory that disregards the importance of consequences and focuses only on the rightness or wrongness of the act itself.
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| End in oneself | Kant's term for a person. Persons (rational beings) should be regarded as dignified beings who have their own goals in life; they should not be used as an means to an end only. See means to an end, merely.
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| Good will | For Kant , having good will means having good intentions in terms of respecting a moral law that is rational and deserves to be a universal law.
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| Hypothetical imperative | A command that is binding only if one is interested in a certain result. An "if-then" situation.
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| Kingdom of ends | Kant's term for a society of autonomous lawmakers who all use the categorical imperative and show each other mutual respect.
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| Maxim | Kant's term for the rule or principle of an action.
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| Means to an End | something used to achieve another goal, and end. See instrumental value.
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| Means to an end, merely | Kant's term for using others as a stepping-stone for one's own purpose.
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| Rationalism | The philosophical school of thought that claims humans are born with some knowledge, or some capacity for knowledge, such as logic and mathematics. Opposite of empiricism.
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| Slave Morality | Nietzsche's concept of the morality of the "heard", people who in his view resent strong individuals and claim that meekness is a virtue.
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