DO THE MAIN CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVES MEET I. KANT’S CRITERIA? IRONICAL ANSWER

The main categorical imperatives were considered from the point of view of Kantian criteria for their evaluation, namely universality, impartiality and rationality. It turned out that no imperative meets these criteria. They are not universal, biased and irrational. Another drawback of the well-known categorical imperatives is that their fulfillment is possible even by those people who commit immoral acts, which is shown by examples built on provocative irony. For example, a sadomasochist acts within the framework of the “golden rule of morality”, and a polygamist who has children from many women, fulfills the instruction to continue the life of people on Earth. Such behavior violates moral norms, but fulfills the prescriptions of moral imperatives. References to these examples are given in the text in curly brackets.