Critique of Practical Reason

High school (ages 12+)
Philosophy & Big Questions

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/critique-of-practical-reason

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. Who wrote Critique of Practical Reason?Immanuel Kant
2. What is the publication date?1788
3. What is the primary subject?Moral philosophy and the foundations of ethics
4. What is the Critique of Practical Reason about?It explains how reason helps us decide what is good and how to act with duty, not just what we can know.
5. Why does Kant say our will should follow the moral law?Because reason can find a rule that is always true, so acting from duty keeps us free and moral.

Practical Reason: The faculty of the mind concerned with action, choice, and moral judgment.
Moral Law: A universal, rational principle that dictates moral duty, discoverable through reason.
Autonomy: The capacity of a rational agent to be a law unto oneself, acting according to self-legislated moral principles.
Categorical Imperative: An unconditional moral command that applies universally, irrespective of personal desires or goals.