SUS1501 ASSIGNMENT 2 2026
DUE 14 AUGUST 2026
1. BACKGROUND FACTS
In Assignment 1, I chose option a for the question about Patrice Motsepe’s money:
"Good for him - he is brilliant and worked hard to earn this."
Now I will look at this idea using Kant’s rules about what is right and wrong.
2. EVALUATE USING KANT'S CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE
1. State your proposed act as a maxim:
"Patrice Motsepe will get US$4.2 billion (A) over his life (C) so he can be very, very rich
(E)."
2. Restate this maxim as a universal law:
"All people (8.1 billion of them) will get US$4.2 billion over their life so they can be very,
very rich."
3. Is the maxim above conceivable in a world ruled by the universal law?
<COMPULSORY - Answer here IN YOUR OWN WORDS -
, No, this rule cannot work for everyone. There is not enough money in the whole world
for every person to have $4.2 billion. The world only has about $450 trillion in total. If 8
billion people each had $4.2 billion, we would need way, way more money than exists. It
is impossible.
Also, if everyone was a billionaire, money would not be special anymore. Nobody would
want to work in mines or shops because they would all be rich already. But we need
workers to dig for gold and make things. If nobody works, there is no gold or things to
buy. So the rule destroys itself. It does not make sense.
<OPTIONAL - AI language-edited version
No, this rule cannot work for everyone. There is not enough money in the world for
every person to have $4.2 billion. The world only has about $450 trillion. If 8 billion
people each had $4.2 billion, we would need much more money than exists. It is just
impossible.
Also, if everyone was a billionaire, money would not mean much anymore. Nobody
would want to work in mines or shops because they would already be rich. But we need
workers to dig for minerals and make products. If nobody works, there are no products
to buy. The rule destroys itself and makes no sense.
4. Would you rationally act on the maxim above in such a world?
<COMPULSORY - Answer here IN YOUR OWN WORDS
DUE 14 AUGUST 2026
1. BACKGROUND FACTS
In Assignment 1, I chose option a for the question about Patrice Motsepe’s money:
"Good for him - he is brilliant and worked hard to earn this."
Now I will look at this idea using Kant’s rules about what is right and wrong.
2. EVALUATE USING KANT'S CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE
1. State your proposed act as a maxim:
"Patrice Motsepe will get US$4.2 billion (A) over his life (C) so he can be very, very rich
(E)."
2. Restate this maxim as a universal law:
"All people (8.1 billion of them) will get US$4.2 billion over their life so they can be very,
very rich."
3. Is the maxim above conceivable in a world ruled by the universal law?
<COMPULSORY - Answer here IN YOUR OWN WORDS -
, No, this rule cannot work for everyone. There is not enough money in the whole world
for every person to have $4.2 billion. The world only has about $450 trillion in total. If 8
billion people each had $4.2 billion, we would need way, way more money than exists. It
is impossible.
Also, if everyone was a billionaire, money would not be special anymore. Nobody would
want to work in mines or shops because they would all be rich already. But we need
workers to dig for gold and make things. If nobody works, there is no gold or things to
buy. So the rule destroys itself. It does not make sense.
<OPTIONAL - AI language-edited version
No, this rule cannot work for everyone. There is not enough money in the world for
every person to have $4.2 billion. The world only has about $450 trillion. If 8 billion
people each had $4.2 billion, we would need much more money than exists. It is just
impossible.
Also, if everyone was a billionaire, money would not mean much anymore. Nobody
would want to work in mines or shops because they would already be rich. But we need
workers to dig for minerals and make products. If nobody works, there are no products
to buy. The rule destroys itself and makes no sense.
4. Would you rationally act on the maxim above in such a world?
<COMPULSORY - Answer here IN YOUR OWN WORDS
