7 h 4 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if doing right begins where getting what you want ends?
In The Critique of Practical Reason, Immanuel Kant asks whether reason can tell us what we ought to do, without appealing to wishes or rewards. His answer places moral law at the center of human freedom. A personal rule must face a demanding test: could it hold as a law for every rational being?
Kant then confronts a harder question. Duty asks us to deserve happiness, but it does not promise that happiness will follow. His argument leads from the categorical imperative to the highest good, and to the place of hope, immortality, and belief in God within his moral philosophy. The challenge is to understand what can guide us when desire cannot.
What you’ll discover
- A test for action Explore the categorical imperative, which asks whether your personal rules could become universal laws.
- Freedom through moral law Follow Kant's argument that freedom means giving yourself the law, not simply following desire.
- Duty without a reward Consider why Kant grounds morality in reason rather than pleasure, happiness, or natural feeling.
- The motive of respect Examine what moves a person to act from duty when inclination pulls another way.
- Happiness and the highest good Trace Kant's effort to bring virtue and happiness together without making happiness morality's foundation.
Who will love it
For readers who love exploring why anything is right or wrong, students of philosophy, and anyone who has wondered whether duty and happiness can be reconciled.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Reason can guide the will directly
- Maxims become laws only when universal
- Happiness cannot be the ground of morality
- The moral law is a fact of reason
- Freedom means giving yourself the law
- Respect for the law is the moral motive
- Virtue and happiness belong together as the highest good
- Hope in immortality and God rests on morality
- The book's legacy and its critics
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 7 h 4 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 13 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Critique de la raison pratique in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Critique de la raison pratique
by Emmanuel Kant · 1788
Kant asks whether reason can command your will, linking moral duty to freedom, happiness and hope.
Challenging5–10 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Reason can guide the will directly
Kant's first critique asked what pure reason can know. Its answer was limited. We can know objects as they appear in space and time, but we cannot prove by theory alone that we are free, that the soul lasts, or that God exists. That left a gap, because morality seems to need freedom.
The second critique asks a different question. It does not ask what we can know but how we ought to act. Kant calls this the practical use of reason, since it concerns the will and its choices. His central claim is that reason does not only serve our desires. It can also determine the will by itself.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Critique de la raison pratique
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is the Critique of Practical Reason about?
It asks how reason can guide the will. Kant argues that a moral law known by pure reason binds every rational being, shows that we are free, and justifies hope in immortality and God.
What is the categorical imperative?
It is Kant's basic moral command. It tells you to act only on a rule that you could will to become a law for everyone, with no condition about what you want.
What is the difference between practical reason and pure reason?
Theoretical reason asks what we can know about the world. Practical reason asks what we ought to do and how reason can determine the will to act.
The author
Immanuel Kant
1724–1804 · German philosopher
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher born in Königsberg, Prussia, in 1724. He lived there until his death in 1804 and taught at its university. He wrote Critique of Pure Reason in 1781, Critique of Practical Reason in 1788, Critique of Judgement in 1790, and Perpetual Peace in 1795.
More by Emmanuel Kant
All 7 books
Free
Free
More like this
Free
Free
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
Popular in philosophy & ideas
See all
Free
Free
