The Analytical Method in The Groundwork for The Metaphysics of Morals

Abstract

There are disagreements among commentators on Kantian ethics regarding the analytical method in the "Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals." The disagreement is about what it means for the method to be analytical. Some believe that the analytical method in the "Groundwork" is 1) understood in traditional terminology regarding its analytical nature, or 2) relates to the nature of analytical judgments, or 3) marks conceptual analysis without having any deeper meaning. This paper shows that Kant's notion of the analytical method should be understood according to the terminology of critical philosophy, rather than being according to traditional terminology or understood as being about judgments, or merely conceptual analysis. The article concludes that the beginning of the text is based on the doctrine of "the fact of reason," and the autonomy of the rational will is a condition for issuing judgments about good will, as judgments that are already known.