1 Unifying the Categorical Imperative, and Beyond*

[T]he concept of freedom…constitutes the keystone of the whole structure of a system of pure reason…[and] this idea reveals itself through the moral law.1 This paper demonstrates something that Kant notoriously claimed to be possible, but which Kant scholars today widely believe to be impossible: unification of all three formulations of the Categorical Imperative.2 §1 of this paper explains Kant’s theory of practical reason and morality at a purely intuitive level, showing how the three3 formulations of the Categorical Imperative (the Universal Law Formulation, the Humanity Formulation, and the Kingdom of Ends Formulation) are intuitively unified. §2 then defends each premise in a formal argument for my Unifying Interpretation. §3 then raises and resolves an objection to my strategy posed by Pallikathayil.4 §4 shows that my interpretation provides an intuitive analysis of how (and why) we should respect immoral persons while not respecting their immoral behavior. §5 then shows that my interpretation is superior to rival interpretations. Finally, because on my Unifying Interpretation the *I abbreviate Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals as G, The Metaphysics of Morals as M, an