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Throwing Oneself Away: Kant on the Forfeiture of Respect

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2014

Aaron Bunch
Aaron Bunch*
Affiliation:
Washington State University Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Surprisingly often Kant asserts that it is possible to behave in such a degrading way that one ‘throws oneself away’ and turns oneself ‘into a thing’, as a result of which others may treat one ‘as they please’. Rather than dismiss these claims out of hand, I argue that they force us to reconsider what is meant and required by ‘respect for humanity’. I argue that to ‘throw away’ humanity is not to lose or extinguish it, but rather to refuse or otherwise fail to claim the respect that it authorizes one to claim. If I refuse or fail to make this claim, there is a sense in which I become a thing, and I leave others no choice but to treat me as such. This is compatible with their respect for humanity in my person.

Keywords

humanityrespectcontemptpredispositiongood willduties to oneselfcrimina carnissuicidemasturbationservilityavaricelying
Type
Articles
Information
Kantian Review , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , March 2014 , pp. 71 - 91
Copyright
Copyright © Kantian Review 2014 

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