Categorical Imperative Case Study

FACTS

I have recently been approached by Luke, an employee of ABC, for advice on how to approach a scenario related to Owen, Luke’s brother, who happens to live on the corner of the neighborhood near the developed land on which ABC plans to build an adult entertainment retail store. Luke knows that when the plans for the store are made public, the property value of the surrounding area would significantly decrease. Luke also knows that this would hurt Owen, who had recently received an offer for his house at an “okay” price, given the state of the current housing market. Luke feels conflicted between his obligations of confidentiality and loyalty towards the company and the loyalty and familial concern he has for his brother’s well-being and

Introduced in Kant’s “Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals”, Kant sought to universalize the morality of all actions through three basic formulations. The first of Kant’s formulations claims that one should act in such a way that if such action was repeated by everyone else that one would wholesomely accept said action to be morally right. The second formulation states that you should not treat a person, a being with a rational nature, merely as a means to satisfy one’s needs. The final formulation states you, a human being, should do the right thing regardless of the consequences of your actions. From the categorical imperative Kant created maxims (principles) which determine whether what one is doing is morally right or wrong. Some of these maxims include “One should not lie under any circumstances”, “Stealing and murder is wrong and immoral”, and “One should not bring harm to others”. In applying Kant’s categorical imperative to Luke’s situation the two maxims which holds the greatest relevance and applicability is “Not lying under any circumstances” and “Not bringing harm to others”. In the scenario where Luke applies the categorical imperative to his professional community, he would use the maxim of “Not bringing harm to others” because he knows that by telling Owen about the company’s confidential information he is committing an act of public disclosure. From the public disclosure ABC would receive bad publicity, tarnishing its reputation, and people, such as Luke or his coworkers, would potentially lose their jobs from the store’s closure if management in the company found out someone on the production team (Luke) had leaked the information publicly. On the other hand, if Luke applies categorical imperative to Owen he would be using the maxim of “Not lying under any circumstances” which would include lying by omission of the truth. Luke knows that if he doesn’t tell this vital