By contrast, categorical imperatives command unconditionally, and tell us what to
do regardless of our desires; for example, do not kill a human being. Even if you want
to kill and doing so would serve your interests, you may not kill. According to Kant
morality can be summed up in one ultimate categorical imperative, a commandment of
reason, from which all duties and obligations derive – an imperative which is
unconditional and “transcendental”. Universality is the first criterion for identifying
what the categorical imperative commands: “Act only according to that maxim
whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law”. As
Hooker (2000) plainly put it, Kant’s theory requires a three-step process: