CATHOLIC / CATHOLICISM43when certain cases fall under general
moral precepts involving prohibitions
and requirements.
CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE. A
categorical imperative commands some
action, unlike a hypothetical imperative,
which merely states that if you want X
you will need to do Y. (If you want to see
Big Ben, you ought to go to London.) A
categorical imperative therefore states a
duty that is not contingent on anyone’s
particular desires. Kant not only argued
that properly moral requirements must
be categorically imperative in form, but he
also held that they could all be derived
from one fundamental principle, which
he therefore called the Categorical Imper-
ative. He gave two main formulations of
the principle (which he claimed were
equivalent.) The first involves an appeal
to maxims. A maxim is the general prin-
ciple which I at least presuppose when
I act. (e.g., “If I need money, and can only
get it by making false promises, I will
make them.”) Kant held that we should
only act on maxims that we can will to be
universal. Kant held that this challenge
of universalizing exposed why we could
not endorse the maxim above; if it was
accepted universally, the whole practice
of making promises would collapse. But
this is not a utilitarian appeal to conse-
quences; rather, it shows that we are
attempting to make a moral exception
of ourselves by acting in a way that we
necessarily wish others to avoid. Kant’s
second formulation is that we should
treat the rational nature in a person
(including ourselves) as an end in itself,
and not merely as a means to our own
ends. On this view, we may use other per-
sons as means (e.g., using a waiter to get
some coffee) but we should never treat
them merely as means, that is in a way
that does not respect their value in them-
selves. Persons are not to be treated as
mere instruments.CATEGORIES. One of the main tasks
of metaphysics is to identify the general
categories of reality; for example, in
metaphysics one may distinguish between
substance, property, event, facts, and so
on. Two of the greatest philosophers who
engaged in systematic categorizing of
what exists (or how we conceptualize the
world as we experience it) are Aristotle
and Kant.CATHOLIC / CATHOLICISM. From
the Greek kath + holou, meaning “about
whole.” While sometimes used generally
to mean “universal,” the English term is
often treated as an abbreviation for being
a Roman Catholic. However, technically
all Christian traditions that accept the
Nicene Creed believe that they too
are part of the catholic (or universal)
Church. Anglicans and Lutherans, for
example, sometimes describe themselves
as catholic and reformed. See also
ROMAN CATHOLICISM.