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The concept ofuniversalizability was set out by the 18th-centuryGerman philosopherImmanuel Kant as part of his workGroundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. It is part of the first formulation of hiscategorical imperative, which states that the only morally acceptablemaxims of our actions are those that could rationally be willed to be universal law.[1]
The precise meaning of universalizability is contentious, but the most common interpretation is that the categorical imperative asks whether the maxim of your action could become one that everyone could act upon in similar circumstances. An action is socially acceptable if it can be universalized (i.e., everyone could do it).[citation needed]
For instance, one can determine whether a maxim of lying to secure a loan is moral by attempting to universalize it and applying reason to the results. If everyone lied to secure loans, the very practices of promising and lending would fall apart, and the maxim would then become impossible.
Kant calls such acts examples of a contradiction in conception, which is much like aperformative contradiction, because they undermine the very basis for their existence.[2]
Kant's notion of universalizability has a clear antecedent inRousseau's idea of ageneral will. Both notions provide for a radical separation of will and nature, leading to the idea that true freedom lies substantially in self-legislation.[citation needed]