ETHICS AND MORALE REASONING

I NEED FOUR SEPARATE RESPONSES (200 WORDS EACH). EACH RESPONSE SHOULD BE BUILDING UPON THE PREVIOUS RESPONSE. CITATIONS ARE REQUIRED. 

TEXTBOOK: Mosser, K. (2013). Understanding philosophy [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/

This week we turn to the theory of ethics called deontology, associated with Kant, who developed it.  The most famous portion of the ethical theory is the so-called "categorical imperative," which serves as both a rule and a test for moral actions.  Kant provides several formulations of it, but the "End-In-Itself" formulation is particularly interesting and helps to make sense of other important parts of Kant's ethics.
Here is our prompt for this week's discussion.  (Yes, there is only one this week!)

One of Kant’s ways of formulating (i.e., expressing in words) the Categorical Imperative says that "one should always treat humanity, whether in oneself or in another, always as an end and never merely as a means". This is often called the "Formula of Humanity" (or sometimes the "Formula of the End-In-Itself").   Briefly explain in your own words what you think Kant means by that. Consider a specific example from the world of business, either one that you have directly encountered or one you heard about, in which a company honored this principle, and consider an example in which a company failed to honor this principle.  Be sure to clearly explain your example with respect to Kant’s theory, and refer to the other readings on business ethics when appropriate.  If you find the example from a source on the Internet or in an article be sure to share that with your classmates.  Discuss whether or not you believe that businesses could actually run according to a Kantian moral framework or if they must necessarily break Kant’s laws in order to function according to business principles.