CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVES ARTICLE 2022

Running head: CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVES
Categorical Imperatives
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CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVES
1
Immanuel Kant, the famous German philosopher, was considered one of the most notable
stalwarts in the history of Western philosophy for his array of contributions in the fields of
epistemology, metaphysics, aesthetics and ethics (Russell, 2013). Kantian ethics, however, is
grounded on the principle of deontology. It is one form of normative ethics that stipulates the
moral judgment of an action should be based on its adherence to an already established set of
rules; rather than the consequences or results that the action yields (Lilly, 1961). According to
Kant, an action can be considered good only if it is guided by the maxim of duty. To elucidate,
Kant maintains that if an individual acts to fulfill his duties to the moral laws, and for no other
expectations for its results, then alone it can be considered as good. “Duty for duty’s sake” as
Kant dubbed it, the deontological maxim that guides Kantian morality is goodwill (Darwell,
2008). At the core of such moral law, as Kant describes in his Groundwork of the Metaphysics of
Morals, sit the categorical imperatives. He defines them as the ultimate commandments of
reason from which all obligations and duties derive (Immanuel, 1785).
Kant differentiates categorical imperatives from the traditional hypothetical imperatives
of moral judgments pointing to the inclination towards consequential benefits of the latter.
Categorical imperatives, on the other hand, refers to an unconditional, absolute requirement that
shall be met under any circumstances without considering its consequences, and shall be justified
as an end in itself. This leads to the first formulation which states “Act only according to that
maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law.” (Kant,
1993. p. 30). Further, Kant holds that every action should set not only a principle, but also an
end. Thus the second formulation iterates “Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in
your own person or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at
the same time as an end” (Kant, 1993. p. 43). Finally, after setting up the objective and