hypothetical imperative

Part of a series on Immanuel Kant

Kantianism and deontological ethics

Transcendental idealism · Critical philosophy · Sapere aude · Schema · A priori & a posteriori · Analytic-synthetic distinction · Noumenon · Categories · Categorical imperative · Hypothetical imperative · "Kingdom of Ends" · Political philosophy

Notable works

Critique of Pure Reason · Prolegomena · What Is Enlightenment? · Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals · Critique of Practical Reason · Critique of Judgement

Notable persons

George Berkeley · René Descartes · Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel · David Hume · Arthur Schopenhauer · Baruch Spinoza · Johannes Tetens

Related

German idealism · Schopenhauer's criticism · Neo-Kantianism

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A hypothetical imperative, originally introduced in the philosophical writings of Immanuel Kant, is a commandment of reason that applies only conditionally:

Kant divides hypothetical imperatives into two subcategories: the rules of skill and the counsels of prudence. The rules of skill are conditional and are specific to each and every person to which the skill is mandated by. The counsels of prudence (or rules of prudence) are attained a priori (unlike the rules of skill which are attained via experience, or a posteriori) and have universal goals such as happiness. Thus, almost any moral "rule" about how to act is hypothetical, because it assumes that your goal is to be moral, or to be happy, or to please God, etc. The only non-hypothetical imperatives are ones which tell you to do something no matter who you are or what you want, because the thing is good in itself.