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FIGURE 2.5 The second formulation of the Categorical Imperative states that it is wrong for
one person to use himself or another person solely as a means to an end.
2.6.2 Evaluating a Scenario Using Kantianism
SCENARIO
Carla is a single mother who is working hard to complete her college education
while taking care of her daughter. Carla has a full-time job and is taking two
evening courses per semester. If she can pass both courses this semester, she will
graduate. She knows her child will benefit if she can spend more time at home.
One of her required classes is modern European history. In addition to
the midterm and final examinations, the professor assigns four lengthy reports,
which is far more than the usual amount of work required for a single class.
Students must submit all four reports in order to pass the class.
Carla earns an A on each of her first three reports. At the end of the term,
she is required to put in a lot of overtime where she works. She simply does not
have time to research and write the final report. Carla uses the Web to identify a
company that sells term papers. She purchases a report from the company and
submits it as her own work.
Was Carla's action morally justifiable?
Analysis
Many times it is easier to use the second formulation of the Categorical
Imperative to analyze a moral problem from a Kantian point of view, so that's
where we begin. By submitting another person's work as her own, Carla treated
her professor as a means to an end. She deceived her professor with the goal
of getting credit for someone else's work. It was wrong for Carla to treat the
professor as a grade-generating machine rather than a rational agent with whom
she could have communicated her unusual circumstances.
We can also look at this problem using the first formulation of the
 
 
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