Its 77 Academy pages make the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals a
short book, certainly by Kantian standards. Readers of the Critique of Pure
Reason or the Metaphysics of Morals can easily get the impression – true or
not – that they are looking at a ‘patchwork’ of previously existing material.
The Groundwork is different. It was composed with great care. Moreover,
Kant’s technical language is absent from the first section, whereas the
second employs resounding concepts like that of human beings as ‘ends
in themselves’ or that of a ‘kingdom of ends’ that we are morally bound to
create through our actions. These qualities explain its enduring popularity.