The "Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals" (1785), the first of Kant's three major ethical works, presents programmatically the main concepts, positions, and principles of his moral philosophy. It will be followed by the "Critique of Practical Reason," which provides the systematic foundation of ethics, and the "Metaphysics of Morals," which includes its application to the philosophy of law and the special part of ethics.

In this book, Kant develops a completely innovative moral philosophy that aims not at individual selfish happiness, but at becoming actively worthy of happiness and human nature. Characteristic features of this ethics are that it is based on correct Reason and does not concern itself with what people actually do, but with what is morally reasonable and true values, regardless of dominant, conventional, customary, or established ethics. It introduces an entirely new concept of freedom as independence from physical and any other necessity (including social and psychological), as autonomy and self-activity. At the same time, it does not overlook that it addresses human beings, that is, finite, imperfect, fragile (and merely potentially rational) beings who depend on a multitude of needs.

The "Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals" is universally recognized - together, for example, with Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics" - as one of the greatest classical and foundational works of moral philosophy. Compared to the other two works of Kant's ethical trilogy, the Groundwork is written in a much more eloquent, lively, and understandable style, which makes it the best introduction to Kant's work.