Lesson: Kantian Ethics and Angelina Grimké’s Letter 12 to Katherine Beecher
This lesson has two main purposes. The first is to illustrate to students how one could apply the Kantian argument that one should not treat others merely as means. This is done by introducing them to an open letter written by the early feminist and abolitionist writer and activist Angelina Grimké in 1838 in which she explicitly argues that men have treated women as mere means. The second is to draw attention, in a way meaningful for students, to the fact that when we think about right and wrong, we often fail to consider others in really problematic ways that later seem obviously mistaken.