Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Waiting for the Barbarians and Kant

The three formulations of the Categorical Imperative in Immanuel Kant's Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals are as follows:

The First Formulation
"Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law without contradiction."

The Second Formulation
Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end. ”

Third Formulation
“Therefore, every rational being must so act as if he were through his maxim always a legislating member in the universal kingdom of ends.”

You assignment is to find a quote from Coetzee's Waiting for the Barbarians that is relevant to one of these three formulations.  Write the quote, provide the page number, and provide a brief explanation.