Abstract For several decades, Kant scholars, inspired by the Groundwork false-promising example, have constructed consent-based criteria for using another merely as a means. Unfortunately, these accounts produce assessments that are both counter-intuitive and un-Kantian in relatively simple cases. This article investigates why fail offers an alternative. The example has encouraged problematical...

Although gratitude is typically conceptualized as a positive emotion, it may also induce socially oriented negative feelings, such indebtedness and guilt. Given its mixed emotional experience, we argue that motivates people to improve themselves in important life domains. Two single-timepoint studies tested the immediate motivational effects of expressing gratitude. We recruited employees (n = ...