English

Noun

moral imperative ‎(plural moral imperatives)

1. (ethics) A practice, policy, or state of affairs which is required and justified by the fact that it is morally right.
   • 2001 June 24, "American Notes: Advertising," Time (retrieved 7 Jan 2016):

     This 60-second commercial, titled The Deficit Trials: 2017 A.D., . . . "expresses a view that budget cuts are a moral imperative."

   • 2012 Oct. 25, Ross Caputi, "The victims of Fallujah's health crisis are stifled by western silence," Guardian (UK) (retrieved 7 Jan 2016):

     To research a possible link between US bombardment and rates of birth defects and pediatric cancer in Iraq is a moral imperative.

   • 2014 June 10, Claire Cain Miller, "If Robots Drove, How Much Safer Would Roads Be?," New York Times (retrieved 7 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.”

2. (ethics) An ethical principle or rule which requires and justifies a practice, policy, or state of affairs.
   • 1996, Robert Strom et al., "Intergenerational Relationships in Taiwanese Families" in Changing Family Roles and Feminism, Man Singh Das (ed.), ISBN 9788185880921, p. 48 (Google preview):

     . . . the Confucian custom of filial piety. This moral imperative requires sons to obey their parents and take care of them during old age.

   • 2004 Sep. 18, Adam Nicolson, "Not even the full force of the law is enough to make something legitimate," Telegraph (UK) (retrieved 7 Jan 2016):

     There are no laws about queueing, but there is a powerful moral imperative not to cheat.

   • 2015 June 20, Michael Eric Dyson, "Love and Terror in the Black Church," New York Times (retrieved 7 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.

See also

• categorical imperative
• duty