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Immanuel Kant (22 April, 172412 February, 1804), was a German philosopher from Königsberg in East Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). He is regarded as one of the most influential thinkers of modern Europe and the last major philosopher of the Enlightenment.

Kant and his philosophy


Kant defined the Enlightenment, in the essay "Answering the Question: What is Enlightenment?", as an age shaped by the motto, "Dare to know" (latin: Sapere aude). This involved thinking Autonomy, free of the dictates of external authority. Kant's work served as a bridge between the Rationalist and Empiricist traditions of the 18th century. He had a decisive impact on the Romantic and German Idealist philosophies of the 19th century. His work has also been a starting point for many 20th century philosophers.

The two interconnected foundations of what Kant called his "critical philosophy" of the "Copernican revolution" which he claimed to have wrought in philosophy were his epistemology (or theory of knowledge) of Transcendental Idealism and his moral philosophy of the autonomy of practical reason. These placed the active, rational human subject at the center of the cognitive and moral worlds. With regard to knowledge, Kant argued that the rational order of the world as known by science could never be accounted for merely by the fortuitous accumulation of sense perceptions. It was instead the product of the rule-based activity of "synthesis". This consisted of conceptual unification and integration carried out by the mind through concepts or the "categories of the understanding" operating on the perceptual manifold within space and time, which are not concepts, but forms of sensibility that are a priori necessary conditions for any possible experience. Thus the objective order of nature and the causal necessity that operates within it are dependent upon the mind. There is wide disagreement among Kant scholars on the correct interpretation of this train of thought. The common '2-world' interpretation regards Kant's position as a statement of epistemological limitation, that we are never able to transcend the bounds of our own mind, meaning that we cannot access the "thing-in-itself". Kant however also speaks of the thing in itself or transcendental object as a product of the (human) understanding as it attempts to conceive of objects in abstraction from the conditions of sensibility. Following this thought, interpreters have argued that the thing in itself does not represent a separate ontological domain but simply a way of considering objects by means of the understanding alone. Much of current Kant-research revolves around this dispute. With regard to morality, Kant argued that the source of the good lies not in anything outside the human subject, either in nature or given by God, but rather only the good will itself. A good will is one that acts from duty in accordance with the universal moral law that the autonomous human being freely gives itself. This law obliges one to treat humanity - understood as rational agency, and represented through oneself as well as others, as an end in itself rather than (merely) as means.

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A Slice of Philosophy: Immanuel Kant - Brief information about life and works of Immanuel Kant.
Meta Description: [ A Slice of Philosophy - King Philosophers lives and works ]

Catholic Encyclopedia: Philosophy of Immanuel Kant - A detailed evaluation by William Turner.
Meta Description: [ A detailed evaluation by William Turner ]

Could Kant Have Been a Utilitarian? - Provocative extract from the book Sorting Out Ethics by R. M. Hare.
Meta Description: [ A reconciliation of Immanuel Kant's meta-physics of morals with utilitarianism ]

Does Christ Agree with Immanuel Kant ? - Argues that Christ's philosophy holds the key to completing Kantian Ethics through resolving the dualism of happiness and virtuousness.

Exhaustive Bibliography of English Translations of Kant - A 1994 compilation by Stephen Palmquist.

Glossary of Kant's Technical Terms - Short glossary with explanations of some Kantian technical terms like transcendental, a priori and understanding.

Immanuel Kant - Biography and overview of his philosophy.

404 International Kantkongress - Homepage of the Ninth International Kant Congress held in Berlin, March 2000.
Meta Description: [ IX. International Kant Congress. English version. ]

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Immanuel Kant -- Metaphysics - Historical background and explanation of his metaphysical ideas.

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Kant, Immanuel -- Aesthetics - Explanation of his aesthetical ideas.

Kant Bibliography - Bibliography of Kant's works and secondary literature.

Kant Links - Links to work by and about this German philosopher.
Meta Description: [ Links to work by and about the philosopher, Immanuel Kant ]

Kant on Autonomy - An article on Kant's philosophy on this topic.

Kant on the Web - A selection of external links, etexts on Kant, etexts of Kant, and original articles and essays.

Kant's Transcendental Idealism - Summary of the Transcendental Aesthetic and Transcendental Logic, as put forth in the Critique of Pure Reason.

North American Kant Society - Scholarly association devoted to the study of this thinker and his ideas. Organizational information, calls for papers, links.

Outline of the Critique of Pure Reason - Intended as an aid for the reader, providing detailed definitions of Kant's terms. By John Clarke.

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