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Wealth Distribution In The Categorical Imperative of Immanuel Kant - Online Essays

Wealth Distribution In The Categorical Imperative of Immanuel Kant

The relative wealth and poverty of certain members of society, particularity Western societies, has long caused a great amount of controversy among contemporary thinkers. The Categorical Imperative of Immanuel Kant clearly argues that inequity in the distribution of wealth is fundamentally unethical and unacceptable. Certainly, poverty today is a huge problem, as close to 40,000-45,000 people die each day from hunger or diseases related to hunger (den Ouden).
Interestingly, some recent arguments note that environmental destruction and degradation are closely linked to the problems of human poverty and hunger. In developing countries like Guatemala, the poor are often actively oppressed ...

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that knowingly place others in poverty are clearly unethical. In it's simplest form, the Categorical Imperative resembles the Golden Rule, and states "Act as if the maxim from which you act were to become through your will a universal law" (The Columbia Encyclopedia). As such, the Categorical Imperative argues that it is essentially immoral to "use" others, and that all actions should be undertaken with consideration of their impact on others (The Columbia Encyclopedia). Thus, Kant's Categorical imperative clearly finds it morally unacceptable to take an action that causes others to live in abject poverty.

Works Cited

den Ouden, Bernard. Techn?: Journal of the Society for Philosophy and Technology, Fall 1995, Volume 1, Numbers 1-2. 12 November 2003. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/SPT/v1n1n2/ouden.html

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001. Kant, Immanuel. 12 November 2003. ...

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Added: 3/13/2016 10:52:53 PM
Category: Philosophy
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 319
Pages: 2

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