Immanuel Kant's Categorical Imperatives

In Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Immanuel Kant makes the argument that one must always develop their natural talents in accordance with what he calls the categorical imperative. Although compelling, his argument is lacking in practicality and is not in accordance with a modern understanding of psychology and the human mind. Kant presents the argument that it is morally wrong for an individual to possess natural talents and not pursue them. To understand Kant’s argument about the pursuit of natural talents, it is critically important to understand the foundation of his philosophy of which he bases his argument on. He begins with the discussion of imperatives, which are formulations by which reason commands an individual to act in a certain way. Two specific types of imperatives are discussed by Kant: the hypothetical imperative, which are generally dealing with the

However, given what we know about the correlation between meaningful lives and mental health, I would argue that it is a violation of Kant’s very own categorical imperative to not pursue the skills we desire. To forego pursuing skills that create happiness in one’s life in order to develop natural talents that would not satisfy the individual would convey the maxim that it is one is allowed to disregard one’s mental health. If universalized, we would have a society plagued by depression, anxiety, suicide, psychosis, and all the illnesses that result from poor mental health and living extremely anemic, meaningless lives. Humanity as a whole would be in grave danger if that maxim is applied to everyone. Thus, we must accept the maxim that one must preserve one’s mental health conditions, thereby concluding that it would not only be permissible to pursue a skill that may not be considered a natural talent, but rather