by Philo Gabriel

Created on: February 13, 2010

According to the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), moral right and wrong flow from the fundamental nature of what it is to be a rational being.  No one “decides” - not God, not a human lawgiver, not each individual person - that this will be right and that will be wrong, any more than someone chose the laws of arithmetic to be what they are.

Unfortunately there is only space in this article to give a brief, oversimplified, introduction to Kant’s theory of ethics.  The best source of information about Kant’s ideas is of course Kant’s own writings.  Of most importance to his ethical thought is “Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals” (which is also sometimes translated as “Foundation of the Metaphysics of Morals,” or some close variant of one of these), followed by “Critique of Practical Reason,” but be forewarned that many consider Kant among the most difficult philosophers to understand.  There are also countless books of analysis and commentary on Kant’s work, as he would make just about anyone’s list of “top ten” philosophers in history, and probably top two or three by many accounts.

Kant’s moral theory rests on the notion of a “categorical imperative.”  This means an imperative, or duty or obligation, that is not conditional.

By contrast, typically imperatives are what Kant calls “hypothetical imperatives.”  They are not statements of what one must do, period, but of what one must do in order to serve some purpose or bring about some result.

For example, “I need to leave by noon in order to get to my appointment on time” is a hypothetical imperative.  The necessity of leaving by noon is conditional on the goal of getting to the appointment on time.  It has no independent force.  Without the desire for the end (getting to the appointment on time), the means (leaving by noon) are not obligatory.

“Send in your application by March 1 if you want to be considered for the fall term” is a hypothetical imperative.  It isn’t claiming you have to send in your application by March 1 no matter what; it is linking your sending in your application by March 1 to the goal or purpose of being considered for the fall term.

In effect a hypothetical imperative claims that certain means are needed to achieve a certain end.

Though often this is not all spelled out. 

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