moral imperative

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English

Noun

moral imperative (plural moral imperatives)

  1. (ethics) A practice, policy, or state of affairs which is required and justified by the fact that it is morally right.
    • 2001 June 24, "American Notes: Advertising," Time (retrieved 7 Jan 2016):
      This 60-second commercial, titled The Deficit Trials: 2017 A.D., . . . "expresses a view that budget cuts are a moral imperative."
    • 2012 Oct. 25, Ross Caputi, "The victims of Fallujah's health crisis are stifled by western silence," Guardian (UK) (retrieved 7 Jan 2016):
      To research a possible link between US bombardment and rates of birth defects and pediatric cancer in Iraq is a moral imperative.
    • 2014 June 10, Claire Cain Miller, "If Robots Drove, How Much Safer Would Roads Be?," New York Times (retrieved 7 Jan 2016):
      Marc Andreessen, the venture capitalist, wrote on Twitter about the accident, with his usual bravado, “Self-driving cars and trucks are a moral imperative.”
  2. (ethics) An ethical principle or rule which requires and justifies a practice, policy, or state of affairs.

See also

Further reading