The categorical imperative, proposed by Immanuel Kant, is a moral obligation that is binding in all circumstances, irrespective of personal desires or goals. In contrast, hypothetical imperatives are conditional directives that depend on a person's specific goals or desires. Essentially, the categorical imperative is about duty for its own sake, while hypothetical imperatives are based on achieving a particular end.

The categorical imperative is essentially a law or command that everyone is affected by. It is a moral hypothetical that allows a person to distinguish what is "moral".

For example, the classic example of a categorical imperative is if there is a law that "Everyone can murder one another." This is a moral hypothetical that we can tell is immoral because of how murdering one another leads to a very dangerous society. If everyone could murder each other, nobody would be alive in this hypothetical, causing the end of society. As we want society to continue and prosper, this categorical imperative allows us to support the idea that murder is immoral.

The hypothetical imperative is a test used to determine whether or not you will do an action. You must imagine a world in which everyone does the proposed action. If it is not possible the action should not be performed. For example, if everyone didn't speak until they were spoken to, no one would ever speak, so this idea would not get thorugh the first test.

However, if you can imagine a world in which everyone did certain action then this action must go though a second test. This is the categorical imperative. If everyone did the propoesed action would you like that? For example. If you can imagine a world in which everyone spat out their gum on the sidewalk this would go through the hypothetical imperative but you wouldn't want to live in this world so it wouldn't go through the categorical imperative.

Hope i helped :)

The categorical imperative is essentially a law or command that everyone is affected by. It is a moral hypothetical that allows a person to distinguish what is "moral".

For example, the classic example of a categorical imperative is if there is a law that "Everyone can murder one another." This is a moral hypothetical that we can tell is immoral because of how murdering one another leads to a very dangerous society. If everyone could murder each other, nobody would be alive in this hypothetical, causing the end of society. As we want society to continue and prosper, this categorical imperative allows us to support the idea that murder is immoral.

A person who follows the categorical imperative