categorical imperative
E13849
The categorical imperative is Immanuel Kant’s central moral principle that commands universally applicable duties based on reason alone, regardless of personal desires or consequences.
All labels observed (2)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| categorical imperative canonical | 7 |
| Formula of the Kingdom of Ends | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T124437 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: categorical imperative Context triple: [Immanuel Kant, notableIdea, categorical imperative]
-
A.
Critique of Pure Reason
Critique of Pure Reason is Immanuel Kant’s foundational philosophical work that revolutionized modern thought by examining the limits and capacities of human reason.
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B.
Golden Rule
The Golden Rule is a foundational ethical principle, especially prominent in Christian teaching, that urges people to treat others as they themselves would like to be treated.
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C.
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant was an 18th-century German philosopher whose critical philosophy, especially in works like "Critique of Pure Reason," profoundly shaped modern epistemology, ethics, and metaphysics.
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D.
Veritas et Utilitas
Veritas et Utilitas is the Latin motto of Howard University, expressing its commitment to truth and service.
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E.
Essays to Do Good
Essays to Do Good is a 1710 collection of moral and religious essays by Puritan minister Cotton Mather that urges Christians to engage in practical benevolence and social reform.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: categorical imperative Target entity description: The categorical imperative is Immanuel Kant’s central moral principle that commands universally applicable duties based on reason alone, regardless of personal desires or consequences.
-
A.
Critique of Pure Reason
Critique of Pure Reason is Immanuel Kant’s foundational philosophical work that revolutionized modern thought by examining the limits and capacities of human reason.
-
B.
Golden Rule
The Golden Rule is a foundational ethical principle, especially prominent in Christian teaching, that urges people to treat others as they themselves would like to be treated.
-
C.
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant was an 18th-century German philosopher whose critical philosophy, especially in works like "Critique of Pure Reason," profoundly shaped modern epistemology, ethics, and metaphysics.
-
D.
Veritas et Utilitas
Veritas et Utilitas is the Latin motto of Howard University, expressing its commitment to truth and service.
-
E.
Essays to Do Good
Essays to Do Good is a 1710 collection of moral and religious essays by Puritan minister Cotton Mather that urges Christians to engage in practical benevolence and social reform.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (50)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Kantian concept
ⓘ
deontological principle ⓘ ethical theory concept ⓘ moral principle ⓘ |
| aimsAt | universalizability of maxims ⓘ |
| appliesTo | all rational beings ⓘ |
| basedOn |
practical reason
ⓘ
pure reason ⓘ |
| centralTo | Kantian ethics ⓘ |
| contrastedWith | hypothetical imperative ⓘ |
| describedIn |
Critique of Practical Reason
ⓘ
Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals ⓘ Metaphysics of Morals ⓘ |
| distinguishedFrom |
moral relativism
ⓘ
prudential rules ⓘ |
| emphasizes |
dignity of persons
ⓘ
treating persons as ends in themselves ⓘ |
| evaluates | maxims of action ⓘ |
| formulatedBy | Immanuel Kant ⓘ |
| groundedIn |
autonomy of the will
ⓘ
freedom ⓘ |
| hasFormulation |
Formula of Autonomy
ⓘ
Formula of Humanity ⓘ Formula of Universal Law ⓘ categorical imperative self-linksurface differs ⓘ
surface form:
Formula of the Kingdom of Ends
Formula of the Law of Nature ⓘ |
| hasModality |
necessary
ⓘ
unconditional ⓘ |
| historicalPeriod | 18th century philosophy ⓘ |
| independentOf |
consequences
ⓘ
empirical desires ⓘ personal inclinations ⓘ |
| influenced |
contemporary human rights theory
ⓘ
discourse on dignity ⓘ modern deontological ethics ⓘ |
| languageOfOrigin | German ⓘ |
| opposes | moral consequentialism ⓘ |
| philosophicalTradition | German idealism ⓘ |
| presupposes |
moral responsibility
ⓘ
rational agency ⓘ |
| providesCriterionFor |
moral obligation
ⓘ
moral permissibility ⓘ |
| requires |
acting from duty
ⓘ
consistency of willing ⓘ impartiality ⓘ respect for moral law ⓘ universalizability test ⓘ |
| statedAs |
Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law
ⓘ
Act only so that the will can regard itself as at the same time making universal law through its maxims ⓘ So act that you use humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, always at the same time as an end and never merely as a means ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: categorical imperative Description of subject: The categorical imperative is Immanuel Kant’s central moral principle that commands universally applicable duties based on reason alone, regardless of personal desires or consequences.
Referenced by (8)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form:
Formula of the Kingdom of Ends
subject surface form:
Immanuel Kant