Kant's p??t?? ?e?d?? (first false step) lies in his conception of Ethics itself, and this is found very clearly expressed on page 62 (R., p. 54): “In a system of practical philosophy we are not concerned with adducing reasons for that which takes place, but with formulating laws regarding that which ought to take place, even if it never does take place.” This is at once a distinct petitio principii. Who tells you that there are laws to which our conduct ought to be subject? Who tells you that that ought to take place, which in fact never does take place? What justification have you for making this assumption at the outset, and consequently for forcing upon us, as the only possible one, a system of Ethics couched in the imperative terms of legislation?

I say, in contradistinction to Kant, that