Ethics of Development: Kant and Cabral’s Pragmatic Contributions

Abstract

Development has always been a fanciful word in the political lexicon of policy-makers and politicians at both local and international political affairs. Political leaders and policy-makers seek to authenticate their relevance in the public ambiance by making several speeches that are coded around the concept of development. This paper therefore interrogates the concept not just by providing additional definitions to the concept but rather to re-invent the proper institutional framework under which development should be pursued. Cabral was a revolutionary and development theorist whose relevance in the whole discourse of development in colonial Africa cannot be overlooked. Immanuel Kant stands tall amidst western scholars with his ethical framework, expounded in the categorical imperatives having perennial relevance in several disciplines. This paper, therefore, provokes their theoretical ethical frameworks in addressing the issues of development. The paper gives us the formula for judging the moral ‘temperature’ of development ideologies and policies.

Keywords: Development, Ethics, Colonialism, Kant, Cabral and Categorical Imperatives