Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten (Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals)

Riga: Johann Friedrich Hartknoch, 1785. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. Kant’s masterpiece of Moral Philosophy, a work arguably as important as Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics

KANT, Immanuel, Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten (Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals) First Printing. 1 blank leaf + TP + [i] - [xiv] = vorrede + [1] - 128, Octavo. [Warda 90].


—Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten (Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals), Johann Friedrich Hartknoch, Riga, 1785. [i] - [xiv] = vorrede + [1] - 128. First Edition [Warda 90].

Kant’s first major work on Ethics, in which he lays the foundations for the Critik der practischen Vernunft (Critique of Practical Reason). The first mention of the categorical imperative, one of the most important concepts in all of Kant’s writing. SCARCE. Rarely found in the trade, this first edition of one of the most elusive of Kant’s books. A most important text in the history of ethics as well as philosophy.


"If he had published nothing else but the Groundworks of the Metaphysics of Morals Kant would be assured a place in the history of philosophy. Difficult as it is to interpret in some of its details, this work is written with an eloquence, depth of insight, and strength of feeling that make an immediate impact on the reader and put it among the classics of the subject. Kant says that his 'sole aim' in the book is 'to seek out and establish the supreme principle of morality.' He wishes to delineate the basic features of the situation in which moral decisions are made, and so to clarify the special character of such decisions." (EP, IV, p. 317)

CONDITION: Very Good in original publisher's blue card covers. Some dampstaining along edges, pages trimmed, original paper label to spine. Edgewear. Foxing. Some loss to rear cover.


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