Dictionary

moral imperative en · NOUN

Meanings

1. A practice, policy, or state of affairs which is required and justified by the fact that it is morally right.
   • To research a possible link between US bombardment and rates of birth defects and pediatric cancer in Iraq is a moral imperative. 2012 October 25, Ross Caputi, “The victims of Fallujah's health crisis are stifled by western silence”, in Guardian, UK, retrieved 07 Jan 2016:
   • This 60-second commercial, titled The Deficit Trials: 2017 A.D., . . . "expresses a view that budget cuts are a moral imperative." 2001 June 24, “American Notes: Advertising”, in Time, retrieved 07 Jan 2016:
   • Marc Andreessen, the venture capitalist, wrote on Twitter about the accident, with his usual bravado, “Self-driving cars and trucks are a moral imperative.” 2014 June 10, Claire Cain Miller, “If Robots Drove, How Much Safer Would Roads Be?”, in New York Times, retrieved 07 Jan 2016:
2. An ethical principle or rule which requires and justifies a practice, policy, or state of affairs.
   • There are no laws about queueing, but there is a powerful moral imperative not to cheat. 2004 September 18, Adam Nicolson, “Not even the full force of the law is enough to make something legitimate”, in Telegraph, UK, retrieved 07 Jan 2016:
   • It is not murderous venom that courses in black veins but loving tolerance for the stranger, which is the central moral imperative of the Gospel. 2015 June 20, Michael Eric Dyson, “Love and Terror in the Black Church”, in New York Times, retrieved 07 Jan 2016:
   • . . . the Confucian custom of filial piety. This moral imperative requires sons to obey their parents and take care of them during old age. 1996, Robert Strom et al., "Intergenerational Relationships in Taiwanese Families" in Changing Family Roles and Feminism, Man Singh Das (ed.), p. 48 (Google preview)

Forms

Relateds

duty · categorical imperative