Amoral imperative is a strongly-felt principle that compels a person "in question" to act. It is a kind ofcategorical imperative as defined byImmanuel Kant. Kant took the imperative to be a dictate ofpure reason, in its practical aspect. Not following the moral law was seen to be self-defeating and thus contrary to reason. Later thinkers took the imperative to originate inconscience, as thedivine voice speaking through the human spirit. The dictates of conscience are simply right and often resist further justification. Looked at another way, the experience of conscience is the basic experience of encountering the right.
An example of following a moral imperative is breaking into someone's house in order to save a baby in a burning crib. An example of not following a moral imperative is making a promise that you do not intend to keep in order to get something.[1]
