Categorical imperative and the principle of humanity

Students will spend a day making ethical decisions as if they were Kantians. This means employing both the categorical imperative and the principle of humanity. Students can either employ both for one action or employ one for one action and another for a different action. When employing the categorical imperative, students must be sure to consider both whether doing the action or not doing the action passes the categorical imperative. For example, if I am tasked with torturing a baby to stop nuclear war, I must consider both whether torturing the baby passes the categorical imperative and whether the opposite does as well. Students must also be sure their action is consistent with Kant’s notion of the good will. Do not make up a story but use real events from your day and do not use past events. Do not use trivial actions like opening the door for someone or killing a bug in a room. This assignment is about how you are following Kantianism and should describe your decisions and actions as a Kantian, not someone else’s. Use of false events, past events or events that are not yours will result in an automatic zero