Categorical imperative is universal and it means that all the people have to act in accordance with the requirements of morality no matter whether people agree with them or not. Kant believes that it is the priority to be able to discern right actions from wrong actions. Universal law is of the utmost importance and the right actions are moral and have to be universal in similar situations.
People have to behave in a way which is good for other people and for themselves as well because other people have to respect the same law. Kant says that the only categorical imperative is: “act only on that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law” (Kant 24). It is the duty of all the people to respect the law because they are all protected by it. The moment when I acted wrong was when I borrowed money from a close friend and I was not sure whether I would be able to repay them or not. This action was wrong because not paying one’s debts is wrong and it might result in anarchy in the world. It could corrupt the friendship and it is unethical not to return money. Therefore, borrowing without being able to repay is not in accordance with the universal law. Another formula is related to the humanity and a person should treat other people “as an end in itself” (Kant 28). The third formula is related to “making universal law through its maxims” (Kant 32) and it means that a person should always behave in such a way that their actions are for a greater good. The final formula deals with the fact that acting in a morally right way “leads to the fruitful concept of a realm of ends” (Kant 32). At first I was not sure what I was supposed to do because I could not repay my friend at once. It was a very difficult situation for me since the right thing to do would be to pay the money back. I thought about my situation a lot because my friend has more money than I do. Finally, I decided to save money for this purpose because that was the right decision to make. If I lent money to someone, I would expect to get it back and that is why I was supposed to do the right thing regardless of the fact that my friend does not need that money. It is important to act in accordance with the universal law and everybody has to pay their debts. Professor Sandel believes that there are exceptions to the categorical imperative and that people should act in accordance with the situation. For example, if a person has to lie in order to save a friend’s life, they should do so. Moral is not a flexible category, but there are situations when it is better to lie so that a greater good can be accomplished.
Categorical imperative is supposed to serve the humanity as the whole and to make people behave in a morally righteous way. Everybody should treat other people the way they want to be treated themselves. Respect and dignity are above all other values and there is no room for lying. Universal law serves all the people and makes them equal to one another while creating the peace in the society.
Works Cited
Sandel, Michael. "Justice: What's The Right Thing To Do? Episode 07: "A LESSON IN LYING" ." YouTube. N.p., 4 Sept. 2009. Web. 31 July 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqzW0eHzDSQ>.
Kant, Immanuel. "Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals ." earlymoderntexts.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 July 2016. <http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/assets/pdfs/kant1785.pdf>.
