A journal review session took place on June 07, 2017, at the Meeting Room of BRAC University Savar Campus. Ms. Tanjin Afrose, faculty member of Ethics & Culture, reviewed an article titled “Categorical Imperatives and Moral Principles” by Allen Buchanan.
In the session, Ms. Afrose discusses how the author tries to focus on two problems of Immanuel Kant’s Moral Philosophy. The author argues that Kant has two non-equivalent ways of distinguishing between categorical imperative and hypothetical imperatives. Furthermore, he argues that one of Kant’s ways of differentiating between categorical and hypothetical imperatives proves that all genuine moral principles are categorical imperatives. However, the author believes that some genuine moral principles are not justifiable without the support of empirical premises. By focusing on Kant’s justification of the principles of beneficence, the author shows that Kant's justifications for several basic moral principles require empirical premises. Ms Afrose ends with the author’s suggestion that if we understand Kant's thesis that the ground of moral obligation is a priori in this first way, rather than the second, then we can admit that Kant has failed to show that moral principles are justifiable without empirical premises, yet still retain what is most valuable in his moral philosophy.
After the discussion, Ms. Afrose invited the faculty members present to share their views. All the faculty members of Ethics and Culture course shared their opinion and it was decided that the author’s views would help to better understand Kantian Moral Philosophy.