Below are the terms that you need to know in order to understand Kantian ethics. Those in blue and bold are particularly important and your aim should be to know them well enough that you can state them with complete accuracy.

Imperative
An imperative is a command or order. It is something you have to do. Although commands or orders are typically given to you by someone else, the imperatives Kant is concerned about come from within us. In particular, they come from our own reason.

Hypothetical imperative
For Kant, a hypothetical imperative is something you need to do if you want a particular outcome, e.g. if you want to be on the team you must attend the training session. He says, if the action would be good merely as a means to something else then the imperative is hypothetical. In this course you don't need to worry too much about hypothetical imperatives as they are there merely to provide a contrast with categorical imperatives.

A categorical imperative
For Kant, a categorical imperative is an order or command, dictated by reason, that you must follow and isn't dependent on wanting a particular outcome. An example would be, 'Don't commit murder' or 'Don't tell lies'.
He says, if the action is in itself good [i.e. one that would result from acting according to the dictates of reason] then it is categorical.

The categorical imperative
Although there are lots of different actions that can be described as categorical, underlying them all there is really only one categorical imperative. This is referred to as THE categorical Imperative. The categorical imperative is the key moral principle from which all other moral rules are derived.

Maxim
Kant defines a maxim as 'the subjective principle of volition'. This probably isn't very helpful. You can say a maxim is your own personal rule that tells you what to do in this kind of situation. Applying the categorical imperative will tell you whether a maxim is acceptable or not.

Although there is only one categorical imperative, Kant expresses it in a number of different ways. You are only required to know two of these formulations. For convenience we shall refer to them as the first and second formulations but this doesn't mean they were first and second in Kant's writings.

First formulation of the categorical imperative.
Sometimes referred to as 'the formula of universal law'.
Act only on that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.

Second formulation of the categorical imperative.
Sometimes referred to as 'the formula of humanity'.
So act as to treat humanity, both in your own person, and in the person of every other, always at the same time as an end, never simply as a means.

The contradiction in conception test
This test can be thought of as asking the question, 'Is it logically possible to conceive of our maxim becoming a universal law?' Kant says, 'Some actions are so constituted that their maxim cannot even be thought without contradiction as a universal law of nature'. That is why it is sometimes called 'the contradiction in thinking test'. There is some scholarly debate about how the contradiction occurs but you can say: A contradiction in conception occurs when the attempt to turn a maxim into a universal law removes the very conditions necessary for that law to exist. Imagine the maxim 'jump the queue' being turned into a universal law. Everyone would try to jump the queue with the result that there would be no queue to jump. When a maxim fails this test it is because it is logically impossible to even imagine the maxim being turned into a universal law.

The contradiction in the will test
A contradiction in the will occurs when, although it is possible to imagine the maxim being turned into a universal law, it is still impossible to WILL that the maxim be turned into a universal law because doing so would result in a state of affairs that for other reasons you must will does not exist.
To see how this works in practice consider Kant's four examples.

[Note: Kant does not himself use the phrases 'contradiction in conception' and 'contradiction in the will' but they are useful summaries of what Kant does say.]

Perfect duty
A perfect duty is one that allows no exceptions. E.g. not making false promises.

Imperfect duty
An imperfect duty is one that allows exceptions but where we have to fulfil the duty to some extent and some of the time. E.g. helping others.

 

 

 

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