Immanuel Kant Categorical Imperative

“What can I know?” “What ought I do?” These are questions in which Immanuel Kant believed needed to be answered (MacKinnon 70). Kant is known as one of modern philosophies most influential figure heads. His pursuit in answering those questions led him to a ground breaking theory called the categorical imperative. He believed this would help us decide what is right and what is wrong. In this essay I will be discussing Immanuel Kant, the categorical imperative and how this theory applies to contemporary ethical issues.

Immanuel Kant was born in East Prussia in 1724 (Callanan 3). He earned his doctorate degree in philosophy in 1755 and became a professor at the University of Konigsberg in 1770 (Kuehn 100). He completed several works which were published during his life. These works most notably included “Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science” (1786) and “Metaphysics of Morals” (1797) (Callanan 3). These works and theories are defined as deontological theory or the theory of duty. A theory first used by philosopher Jeremy Bentham (MacKinnon 68). Kant used this term of duty to describe what we ought to do. He focused on our intentions rather than the consequences of those actions as did Bentham. The categorical imperative he created would help us determine if

It states that it must apply to all people (MacKinnon 72). This is opposite to individualism in that we should only take actions that we wish to be universal. Lying is often the example noted with Kantians (Geiger 271/MacKinnon 72). What if everyone lied? This logically would not work as no one would trust the other. Another form of the imperative is to treat other as the solution rather than using them for your own solution. This would mean that a person should not be tricked into helping me. Rather we should mutually agree to work toward the same goal (MacKinnon