Imperatives in Golf
20 Nov 2024
The concepts of hypothetical imperatives and categorical imperatives are derived from the moral philosophy of Kant. The distinction between the two is that the applicability of hypothetical imperatives is contingent on whether you have a certain desire, whereas categorical imperatives are applied unconditionally. In other words, hypothetical imperatives can be withdrawn if it turns out that you no longer have the relevant desire, whereas categorical imperatives are never withdrawn.
Institutional rules are examples of categorical imperatives. Let's suppose that you are on a date with someone, and both of you walk past a golf course. One categorical imperative of golf is that "You must play the ball where it lies." This imperative applies unconditionally to anyone playing golf. However, since you are not playing golf at this point, the categorical imperative doesn't apply to you. Suppose now that your date asks if you want to play golf, but you are not particularly interested in golf. You contemplate whether to accept, and decide that, since you are interested in spending time with your date, you will agree to play. Since you are now playing golf, the categorical imperative of playing the ball where it lies applies to you. Moreover, it applies unconditionally: it doesn't depend on whether you like golf, hate golf, whether you are good at golf, whether your date is a good person, etc; it doesn't depend on anything, other than the fact that you are playing golf.
Note that there is also a less obvious hypothetical imperative at play here: "If you want to spend time with your date, then you should accept their invitation to play golf." This imperative is contingent on your desire to spend time with your date. If this desire changes for some reason (e.g. you discover that your date already has a partner), then the imperative can be withdrawn. Moreover, this imperative is special in that it concerns whether you should engage in the institution of golf and potentially be subject to the set of categorical imperatives of golf.
Not all imperatives of golf are categorical. Some are hypothetical, such as "You should hit at an angle to account for wind." This imperative is hypothetical because it is contingent on your desire to win the game. If you don't care about winning, then the imperative doesn't apply to you. Note that, either way, the original categorical imperative of playing the ball where it lies still applies. You may or may not care about winning, but since you are playing golf, you must still play the ball where it lies.