Hypothetical And Categorical Imperatives

Melissa Stachowiak

Good Life Take-home #2

Professor Gan

November 20, 2015

5.) What is the difference between a hypothetical and a categorical imperative? In class when we had the conversation about chapter two of Immanuel Kant’s Grounding of Morals, we had discussed the imperatives. The imperatives are broken down into two sections, hypothetical imperative and categorical imperative each having different meanings.

Hypothetical imperative is described as a “command that a particular action is necessary as a means to some purpose, such as the attainment of personal happiness” (Kant). As we discussed in class if one desires ‘x’, one ought to do ‘y’. An example of this would be if you want to play lacrosse well, you ought to practice daily. Hypothetical imperative meets desire of personal maxim. A maxim is a personal rule, a principle severed as motivation. Hypothetical imperatives can be described as repetitive or an obvious occurrences that happens.

Categorical imperative is described as “command that some action is necessary in and of itself” (Kant). As we discussed in class if one ought to do ‘z’, one ought to do ‘w’. An example of this would be you ought not to kill another person. This can be

The first formulation is, the principle of consistency “always act in according to the maxim that you can follow at the same time act as you act to a universal law.” Second is the principle of humanity. This is saying “always act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or that of another as an end and never as a means only.” Finally, the third formulation is the principle of autonomy. This suggests “always act so that the will can regard itself as a universal lawgiver.” These formulations are subsections of the categorical imperative, as we learned earlier in the paper; the categorical imperative is described as “commands that some action is necessary in and of itself”