Final answer:
The correct answer to the student's query is 'A. need.' A categorical imperative is a moral command that must be adhered to unconditionally, not in order to fulfill a desire or to achieve a specific goal.
Step-by-step explanation:
A categorical imperative is a moral law that must be followed universally, regardless of desires or personal goals. It is distinct from a hypothetical imperative, which is a command to do something in order to achieve a specific end. The correct answer to the question 'A categorical imperative is Do X not ____ to have Y;' is 'A. need.' This is because a categorical imperative requires one to do an action unconditionally, not because one needs to have a particular outcome or desire.
Immanuel Kant, a prominent philosopher, introduced the concept of the categorical imperative in his work ‘Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals’. Kant's categorical imperative is the philosophical notion that one must act according to the maxim that they would want all other rational beings to follow, as if it were a universal law. This implies acting with a sense of duty and moral rightness that goes beyond one's own interests or consequences of the act.
Kant’s categorical imperative also asserts that we should never treat a person as a means to an end, but always as an end in themselves, highlighting the intrinsic value of human beings.