behaviors that are good for their own sake. Honesty is good in and of itself
because it’s the only form of communication that doesn’t treat people merely
as a means. Courage is good in and of itself because to fail to act is to treat
either yourself or others as a means to the end of quelling your fear. Humility
is good in and of itself because to fall into blind certainty is to treat others as a
means to your own ends.
If there were ever to be a single rule to describe all desirable human
behavior, the Formula of Humanity would probably be it. But here’s the
beautiful thing: unlike other moral systems or codes, the Formula of
Humanity does not rely on hope. There’s no great system to force onto the
world, no faith-based supernatural beliefs to protect from doubt or lack of
evidence.
The Formula of Humanity is merely a principle. It doesn’t project some
future utopia. It doesn’t lament some hellish past. No one is better or worse or
more righteous than anyone else. All that matters is that conscious will is
respected and protected. End of story.
Because Kant understood that when you get into the business of deciding
and dictating the future, you unleash the destructive potential of hope. You
start worrying about converting people rather than honoring them, destroying
evil in others rather than rooting it out in yourself.
Instead, he decided that the only logical way to improve the world is
through improving ourselves—by growing up and becoming more virtuous—
by making the simple decision, in each moment, to treat ourselves and others
as ends, and never merely as means. Be honest. Don’t distract or harm
yourself. Don’t shirk responsibility or succumb to fear. Love openly and
fearlessly. Don’t cave to tribal impulses or hopeful deceits. Because there is
no heaven or hell in the future. There are only the choices you make in each
and every moment.
Will you act conditionally or unconditionally? Will you treat others as
merely means or as ends? Will you pursue adult virtue or childish narcissism?
Hope doesn’t even have to enter into the equation. Don’t hope for a better
life. Simply be a better life.
Kant understood that there is a fundamental link between our respect for
ourselves and our respect for the world. The values that define our identity are
the templates that we apply to our interactions with others, and little progress
can be made with others until we’ve made progress within ourselves.^39 When
we pursue a life full of pleasure and simple satisfaction, we are treating
ourselves as a means to our pleasurable ends. Therefore, self-improvement is
not the cultivation of greater happiness but, rather, a cultivation of greater