ABSTRACT
Respecting someone as a grown-up human being will rule out dealing with that person in ways that it might be perfectly all right to deal with an animal or a child. Because it involves treating that person as though they were capable of and responsible for making an adequate decision themselves. Kantian ethics makes this idea of respect central. The basic picture of Kantian ethics is of a world of human agents who recognise one another as independent, and as each having a certain sphere of influence over which they are authoritative and into which others ought not to intrude. The basic idea is that people should have freedom to act as they see fit – being left to decide for themselves, as autonomous beings, is part of their dignity – as long as they do so in ways that allow similar liberty for others.
