The categorical imperative, as designed by Immanuel Kant, describes a standard by which all moral ideals should be tested. Within his imperative, moral choices are determined to be either universal or nonuniversal, and the universal ideals are raised to the place of objective moral choices, or moral absolutes. Kant identifies the universality factor of objective morality that must be satisfied for any ideal to be considered objective.
The social contract theory, as written by Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and John Rawls, examines the place of morality in society by questioning the minimal rights that the individual must retain for the society to continue. Through the social contract, the necessary factor of social necessity is examined in the question of, what laws must exist for society itself to exist, says Professor Bryan Benham of the University of Utah. For instance, under the social contract, the act of theft is illegal, not because theft is universally immoral but because it is the responsibility of the society to protect the individual from theft.
Evolutionary study provide another factor of objective morality in the idea that some ideals are hardwired into humanity on an evolutionary level. A few examples of this are the human need to eat and the physiological response of the human body in distress. Functionally, the need for food guides humanity to produce and obtain food, while the physiological response to danger can be interpreted as a fundamental justification for the right to life. Assuming this, another factor of objective morality is the unavoidable moral drive that exists within the human physiology.
Religion offers another factor of objective morality in the assertion of divine will as a moral imperative. This assertion defines and classifies the will of a divine force upon your moral choices and how those choices effect you on a spiritual level. Religious laws, such as the 10 commandments, would be considered objective moral laws and adhered to by religious individuals throughout the world.