Kant developed the principle of humanity and universalizability, which defined his moral philosophy. The principles have similarities and differences where Kantian humanity demands dignity and respect for individuals by insisting that a person should treat another as an end, not a means (Fasoro, 2019). On the other hand, universalizability primarily focuses on the relevance of fairness. Therefore, the two are different because they conflict with one another as a person can fail to respect people and still be fair. Kant’s principle on humanity is all about how individuals should treat humans. Humanity acts as the primary principle, which states that people should treat others as an end, not a means (Schwenkenbecher, 2020). Universalizability states that people should do actions that others can do. The similarity of the principles of humanity and universalizability is that they focus on the ethics and morality of human beings.
Humanity is better than universalizability to guide moral obligations because it defines how people should treat their fellow human beings. According to the humanity principle, it is always right to treat human beings as an end, not just a means (Akhlaghi, 2020). Kant asserted it is wrong to treat rational human beings as a mere means to an end. According to Kant, reasonable people are always motivated by morality. Moral persons have reasoned motives that need considerable respect. Kant further argued that moral obligations are rational necessities every human should possess to be morally right (Fasoro, 2019). According to the humanity principle, everyone has a moral obligation to treat another person fairly and with decorum. Although people may be treated as a means to an end, it is also suitable to treat them as an end.
References
Akhlaghi, F. (2020). On moral obligations and our chances of fulfilling them. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 23(3-4), 625–638.
Fasoro, S. A. (2019). Kant on human dignity: Autonomy, humanity, and human rights. Kantian Journal, 38(1), 81–98.
Schwenkenbecher, A. (2020). Knowing when we have collective moral obligations. Getting Our Act Together, 63–97.