1. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) posits the categorical imperative as a means to ass
ID: 424560 • Letter: 1
Question
1. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) posits the categorical imperative as a means to assessing ethicality. In part, the principle demands that its subscriber’s only act in such a manner that they can expect someone in a similar predicament would act or behave. Is this an oversimplification? Do you have a practical example of its application, i.e., how has it been used or abused? Evaluate the two aspects of the imperative to aid in your response. Answer in 250 words please.
Book used is Business and Professional ETHICS. For Directors, executies & accountants.
Explanation / Answer
In my opinion it is oversimplification because we cannot insist that a person should behave only in a specified way in all the circumstances. There can be exceptions and sometimes we need to act differently depending on the situations and outcomes and acting only as per the duties may be unethical. For example it is our responsibility to respect and help our elders, but if the elder person is a thief and is trying to steal something we cannot say that we should perform our duties towards elders in such a situation. We should consider the situation and the consequences as well while deciding our actions. I have a practical example of its application. When I was working in my past organization I have undergone a situation where the categorical imperative was abused. My duties in my job included mainly preparing reports as per my supervisor’s instructions. One day I understood the facts that our performance reports are being manipulated by the supervisor and many qualified team members are denied promotion and salary hike based on his report. According to my duties, I have to act according to his instructions and he told me not to disclose the same to anyone else. My categorical imperative was to obey him and I was afraid to disclose the same to others as it may affect my position as well. But the moral aspect of imperative actually requires reporting the same to the top management. The application of imperative was abused through my act by choosing to support my supervisor in his act though I was known of its after effects.
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