The process by which moral principles are established or justified, particularly in Kant's ethics where rational beings give moral laws to themselves. It emphasizes the active role of reason in creating moral obligations.
From Latin 'moralis' and 'legislatio' (law-making). Kant used this metaphor to show how moral agents are like lawmakers in the realm of ethics, creating binding principles through reason rather than receiving them from external authority.
Moral-legislation reveals that you are the author of your own moral obligations - not God, not society, but your own rational nature! This makes moral responsibility both more demanding and more dignified than following external commands.
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