Concept
Maxim (philosophy)
Overview
concise expression of a fundamental moral rule
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
In the original texts
Passages from public-domain books where Maxim (philosophy) is discussed.
It follows incontestably that, to whatever laws any rational being may be subject, he being an end in himself must be able to regard himself as also legislating universally in respect of these same laws, since it is just this fitness of his maxims for universal legislation that distinguishes him as an end in himself; also it follows that this implies his dignity (prerogative) above all mere physical beings, that he…
Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals
names the idea; states what it is; author linked in the graph; opens on it
Practical laws, in so far as they are subjective grounds of actions, that is, subjective principles, are termed maxims. The judgements of moral according to in its purity and ultimate results are framed according ideas; the observance of its laws, according to maxims. The whole course of our life must be subject to moral maxims; but this is impossible, unless with the moral law, which is a mere idea, reason connects…
Immanuel Kant, The Critique of Pure Reason
states what it is; names the idea; author linked in the graph; opens on it
The popular objection to casuistry is similar to the popular objection to the maxim that the end justifies the means. It is creditable to practical moral sense, but not to popular logical consistency. For recourse to casuistry is the only conclusion which can be drawn from belief in fixed universal principles, just as the Jesuit maxim is the only conclusion proper to be drawn from belief in fixed ends. Every act…
John Dewey, Human Nature and Conduct
states what it is; names the idea; opens on it
If now the maxims of rational beings are not by their own nature coincident with this objective principle, then the necessity of acting on it is called practical necessitation, i. e., duty. Duty does not apply to the sovereign in the kingdom of ends, but it does to every member of it and to all in the same degree.
Michel de Montaigne, Literary and Philosophical Essays
names the idea; states what it is
The besetting sin of the maxim-writer is to exaggerate one side of a matter by neglecting another; to secure point and emphasis of style, by limiting the range of thought; and hence it is that most maxims present but a portion of truth and cannot be received unqualified. They must often be brought back to the test of life itself, and confronted and compared with other sides of the experience they profess to embody.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Maxims and Reflections
names the idea; the book is about it; opens on it
Philosophers who discussed Maxim (philosophy)
Related ideas
- Empiricism
- Robert L. Holmes
- Philosophy
- Immanuel Kant
- Duty
- Categorical imperative
- Frank P. Ramsey
- Deontology
- Lewis White Beck
- Pedagogy
- Morality
- Simon Blackburn
- Kantian ethics
- Alfred, Lord Tennyson
- Critique of Practical Reason
- Heuristic
- Rationalism
- Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy)
- Epistemology
- Pragmatism
- The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy
Place in the tradition
Part of Deontology.