A categorical imperative would be one which represented an action as objectively necessary in itself, without reference to any other purpose.

Quote by Immanuel Kant

Topics: Immanuel Kant Quotes

Ours is an age of criticism, to which everything must be subjected. The sacredness of...

Ours is an age of criticism, to which everything must be subjected. The sacredness of...

Happiness is not an ideal of reason but of imagination

Happiness is not an ideal of reason but of imagination

He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We...

He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We...

Morality is not really the doctrine of how to make ourselves happy but of how...

Morality is not really the doctrine of how to make ourselves happy but of how...

Experience without theory is blind, but theory without experience is mere intellectual play.

Experience without theory is blind, but theory without experience is mere intellectual play.

All thought must, directly or indirectly, by way of certain characters, relate ultimately to intuitions,...

All thought must, directly or indirectly, by way of certain characters, relate ultimately to intuitions,...

The question is not so much whether there is life on Mars as whether it...

The question is not so much whether there is life on Mars as whether it...

Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing wonder and awe - the...

Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing wonder and awe - the...

Reason does not work instinctively, but requires trial, practice, and instruction in order to gradually...

Reason does not work instinctively, but requires trial, practice, and instruction in order to gradually...

Man must be disciplined, for he is by nature raw and wild

Man must be disciplined, for he is by nature raw and wild

Intuition and concepts constitute... the elements of all our knowledge, so that neither concepts without...

Intuition and concepts constitute... the elements of all our knowledge, so that neither concepts without...

Immaturity is the incapacity to use one's intelligence without the guidance of another.

Immaturity is the incapacity to use one's intelligence without the guidance of another.

Seek not the favor of the multitude; it is seldom got by honest and lawful...

Seek not the favor of the multitude; it is seldom got by honest and lawful...

All the interests of my reason, speculative as well as practical, combine in the three...

All the interests of my reason, speculative as well as practical, combine in the three...

In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics...

In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics...

Fallacious and misleading arguments are most easily detected if set out in correct syllogistic form

Fallacious and misleading arguments are most easily detected if set out in correct syllogistic form

By a lie, a man... annihilates his dignity as a man.

By a lie, a man... annihilates his dignity as a man.

From such crooked wood as that which man is made of, nothing straight can be...

From such crooked wood as that which man is made of, nothing straight can be...

Act that your principle of action might safely be made a law for the whole...

Act that your principle of action might safely be made a law for the whole...

Always recognize that human individuals are ends, and do not use them as means to...

Always recognize that human individuals are ends, and do not use them as means to...