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SUS1501 Assignment 2 Semester 1 2026 (Answer Guide) -
Sustainability and Greed
VERIFIED AND CERTIFIED ANSWERS. WRITTEN IN REQUIRED FORMAT AND WITHIN
GIVEN GUIDELINES. IT IS GOOD TO USE AS A GUIDE AND FOR REFERENCE, NEVER
PLAGARIZE. Thank you and success in your academics.
UNISA, 2026
Contents
2. EVALUATE USING KANT’S CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE ................................................... 2
3. Is the maxim above conceivable in a world ruled by the universal law; ...................... 2
4. Would you rationally act on the maxim above in such a world? .................................... 2
3. FORM AN OPINION ......................................................................................................................... 3
1. What would Kant probably have said about Motsepe’s wealth? .................................... 3
2. Why do you think this? (Minimum 200 words – premises must be explicit) ............... 4
3. What do you think about Patrice Motsepe’s wealth?......................................................... 4
4. Why do you think this? (Minimum 200 words – premises must be explicit) ............... 5
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2. EVALUATE USING KANT’S CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE
3. Is the maxim above conceivable in a world ruled by the universal law;
<Answer in here>
No, the maxim is not conceivable in a world ruled by the stated universal law. If all 8.1
billion people were to accumulate US$4.2 billion over the course of their lives in order to
become extremely rich, this would require an amount of wealth that far exceeds the total
resources available on Earth. Wealth, especially at the level of billions, is dependent on
scarcity, unequal distribution, and differential access to resources. A world in which
everyone is a billionaire would undermine the very economic conditions that make
extreme wealth possible in the first place.
Furthermore, such a universal law would collapse the concepts of labour, value, and
exchange. If everyone possessed enormous wealth, money would lose its meaning as a
medium of exchange and store of value. This results in a contradiction in conception:
the maxim relies on a system of scarcity and inequality, but when universalised, it
destroys that system. According to Kant, when a maxim cannot even be coherently
imagined as a universal law without contradiction, it fails the first test of the categorical
imperative.
4. Would you rationally act on the maxim above in such a world?
<Answer in here>
No, it would not be rational to act on this maxim in such a world. In a world where
everyone is already extremely wealthy, the purpose of accumulating US$4.2 billion “in
order to get really, really rich” would be meaningless. The end goal of the action would
no longer exist, since relative wealth and advantage would disappear. Acting on this
maxim would therefore be irrational because the motivation behind the action would be
undermined by the universalisation of the maxim itself.
SUS1501 Assignment 2 Semester 1 2026 (Answer Guide) -
Sustainability and Greed
VERIFIED AND CERTIFIED ANSWERS. WRITTEN IN REQUIRED FORMAT AND WITHIN
GIVEN GUIDELINES. IT IS GOOD TO USE AS A GUIDE AND FOR REFERENCE, NEVER
PLAGARIZE. Thank you and success in your academics.
UNISA, 2026
Contents
2. EVALUATE USING KANT’S CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE ................................................... 2
3. Is the maxim above conceivable in a world ruled by the universal law; ...................... 2
4. Would you rationally act on the maxim above in such a world? .................................... 2
3. FORM AN OPINION ......................................................................................................................... 3
1. What would Kant probably have said about Motsepe’s wealth? .................................... 3
2. Why do you think this? (Minimum 200 words – premises must be explicit) ............... 4
3. What do you think about Patrice Motsepe’s wealth?......................................................... 4
4. Why do you think this? (Minimum 200 words – premises must be explicit) ............... 5
, 2|Page
2. EVALUATE USING KANT’S CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE
3. Is the maxim above conceivable in a world ruled by the universal law;
<Answer in here>
No, the maxim is not conceivable in a world ruled by the stated universal law. If all 8.1
billion people were to accumulate US$4.2 billion over the course of their lives in order to
become extremely rich, this would require an amount of wealth that far exceeds the total
resources available on Earth. Wealth, especially at the level of billions, is dependent on
scarcity, unequal distribution, and differential access to resources. A world in which
everyone is a billionaire would undermine the very economic conditions that make
extreme wealth possible in the first place.
Furthermore, such a universal law would collapse the concepts of labour, value, and
exchange. If everyone possessed enormous wealth, money would lose its meaning as a
medium of exchange and store of value. This results in a contradiction in conception:
the maxim relies on a system of scarcity and inequality, but when universalised, it
destroys that system. According to Kant, when a maxim cannot even be coherently
imagined as a universal law without contradiction, it fails the first test of the categorical
imperative.
4. Would you rationally act on the maxim above in such a world?
<Answer in here>
No, it would not be rational to act on this maxim in such a world. In a world where
everyone is already extremely wealthy, the purpose of accumulating US$4.2 billion “in
order to get really, really rich” would be meaningless. The end goal of the action would
no longer exist, since relative wealth and advantage would disappear. Acting on this
maxim would therefore be irrational because the motivation behind the action would be
undermined by the universalisation of the maxim itself.
