that is to say, the will of such a being cannot be a will of its own except under the idea of freedom.

This idea must therefore in a practical point of view be ascribed to every rational being.

* I adopt this method of assuming freedom merely as an idea which rational beings suppose in their actions, in order to avoid the necessity of proving it in its theoretical aspect also. The former is sufficient for my purpose; for even though the speculative proof should not be made out, yet a being that cannot act except with the idea of freedom is bound by the same laws that would oblige a being who was actually free. Thus we can escape here from the onus which presses on the theory.

Of the Interest attaching to the Ideas of Morality