The Latter Six Commandments As Deontological Moral Imperatives

    Immanuel Kant, in his theory of Deontology, postulated the concept of the Categorical Imperative, a philosophical entity by which morality could be judged.  By the Categorical Imperative, an action’s moral worth can be judged by the so-called universalizability of the action.  If an action can be universalized- made such that if all people followed it and is not self-defeating or destructive, it can be considered moral.  These moral actions, those that survive universalization are then called Moral Imperatives.  These Moral Imperatives, according to Kant should be followed at all times regardless of situation or cost.

    The Ten Commandments presented in the Biblical Book of Exodus can be considered Moral Imperatives by Kant theory.  Specifically, the latter six commandments, which will be specified below, can easily be defended as moral actions.  The first four are more difficult to defend by Kant theories, because they specify how man is to relate to God rather than to other people, which was Kant’s main concern with ethics.  As a result, the latter six, specifying the nature of human interaction will be analyzed.

    First is the tenet “Honor your father and your mother” .  Under most situations, one’s elders have more experience with life, and as a general rule parents have the best interests of their children at heart.  If these are so, then it is not unreasonable to state that their opinions about the actions one should take in life are likely to be good advice.  As a result, the idea that they should be respected enough to be listened to is also not unreasonable.  In fact, if everyone were to listen to their parent’s advice, even if they chose not to obey it, there would likely be a lower incidence of ‘bad’ things in society like teenage pregnancy, drug use, or drunkenness.  In addition, when, from a longer perspective of time, those of the younger generation realized how much easier life had been when they chose to listen to their parent’s advice, or how much easier life would have been had they listened to their parent’s advice, the cycle is then encouraged to continue as they assure their children that honoring their parent’s wisdom and experience can have good results.  Therefore, it would seem that the commandment can be univeralized into one of Kant’s Moral Imperatives.