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Question: How would cheating fail the catergorical imperative!?
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I'm not amazingly well-read on Kant, so forgive me if I misinterpret your question!. I'm assuming though that you mean that the act of cheating would not pass the three maxims of the categorical imperative, and would thusly not be considered moral!. Why is this the case!? Well, if I understand correctly, the first maxim is something along the lines of "Do only that which you think should be universally done"!. So, if you cheat, you have to make the statement "It is morally permissible to cheat!." Once cheating becomes morally allowed though, it is no longer cheating, since cheating is doing exactly that which is not allowed!. I think that's probably the best way to look at it, since once you can no longer look at it as a universal maxim, it fails the categorical imperative!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

any instance of cheating requires an agent and is thus empirical that puts it in the realm of the hypothetical imperative!. it is not necessarily therefore bound to fail the categorical imperative cheating an unjust system out of it's capacity to lay down bad patterns of value could quite easily better fulfil the requirements of the categorical imperative than allowing those errant patterns to continue!. but this is not pure chaotic good which allows good at any price the categorical imperative wouldn't be the categorical imperative if it said "the end justifies the means" - only higher quality patterns can be lain down to achieve evidence of moral good even if they that evidence is still not good enough as long as they are highest quality available - the categorical imperative allows "the lesser of two evils" to take place empirically Www@QuestionHome@Com

"Act so that you can will that everyone should act in that way!."

It is obvious that cheating falls outside this rule!. You would not want anyone to cheat you out of your money, nor would you want to be operated on by a surgeon who had cheated his way through his exams!. You cannot (unless you have a death-wish or a masochistic streak) will those, or anything similar, to be a general rule!.

Hope this helps!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Cheating implies that there is a rule to be followed!. If no-one followed that rule, it would not exist!. Therefore, cheating violates the categorical imperative - it cannot consistently be willed to be universal!.Www@QuestionHome@Com