Explain what Kant meant by the "Categorical Imperative"
             Kant came up with the Categorical Imperative he verifiably meant it to be different to the hypothetical Imperative, naturally first one must define the two. An Imperative is a command or an order. so a Hypothetical Imperative is an order that if you follow a certain outcome might/could happen in the future, an example of this is "if i want to lose weight, i ought to diet" or "if i want to go to heaven, i ought to be good" they are things that most likely will work but there is a chance it might fail. Categorical means clear/direct or absolute, so a Categorical Imperative is an order that is absolute and cannot be subjective. an example of a Categorical Imperative is "Do not kill!" or "Stealing is wrong!" they are things that need no justification, they just are.
             Kant said "All imperatives command either hypothetically or categorically... if the action would be good simply as a means to something else, then the imperative is hypothetical; but if the action is represented as good in itself ... then the imperative is categorical." he meant that to perform a categorical imperative you must do it irrespective of the outcome, the argument is therefore deontological.
             Kant stated that there were three principles to categorical imperatives; Universal law, treat humans as ends in themselves and act as if you live in the kingdom of ends. these principles were to help you figure out what was morally right, and according to Kant once you knew what was right it was your "Duty" to act upon it
             Universal law is in itself a categorical imperative that states "do not act on any maxim that cannot be universalized" or in other words any moral law i by which you want to live must be able to be applied to every situation and moral agent universally. an example of a statement that is non-universalisable would be "stealing is wrong, unless your rent is late" if an exception is made in one sit...