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    WHKB01-Immanual Kant

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    Prashant Singh
    Immanuel Kant was an 18th century German philosopher who made significant contributions during the Enlightenment era. In his essay "What is Enlightenment?", Kant defined Enlightenment as mankind's release from self-incurred immaturity and the ability to think independently without guidance from others. Kant also questioned whether reason alone can understand the world, arguing that perceptions and observations cannot reveal universal truths. In his work "Critique of Pure Reason", Kant examined the limits of pure reason and emphasized intuition over empiricism. Kant developed the notion of the "categorical imperative" as the fundamental principle of morality, stating that moral actions are those whose motivations could become universal laws for all people.

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    WHKB01-Immanual Kant

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    52 views5 pages
    Immanuel Kant was an 18th century German philosopher who made significant contributions during the Enlightenment era. In his essay "What is Enlightenment?", Kant defined Enlightenment as mankind's release from self-incurred immaturity and the ability to think independently without guidance from others. Kant also questioned whether reason alone can understand the world, arguing that perceptions and observations cannot reveal universal truths. In his work "Critique of Pure Reason", Kant examined the limits of pure reason and emphasized intuition over empiricism. Kant developed the notion of the "categorical imperative" as the fundamental principle of morality, stating that moral actions are those whose motivations could become universal laws for all people.

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    WHKB01-Immanual Kant - Prepshiksha.com (2)

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    Immanuel Kant was an 18th century German philosopher who made significant contributions during the Enlightenment era. In his essay "What is Enlightenment?", Kant defined Enlightenment as mankind's release from self-incurred immaturity and the ability to think independently without guidance from others. Kant also questioned whether reason alone can understand the world, arguing that perceptions and observations cannot reveal universal truths. In his work "Critique of Pure Reason", Kant examined the limits of pure reason and emphasized intuition over empiricism. Kant developed the notion of the "categorical imperative" as the fundamental principle of morality, stating that moral actions are those whose motivations could become universal laws for all people.

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    WHKB01-Immanual Kant

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    Prashant Singh
    Immanuel Kant was an 18th century German philosopher who made significant contributions during the Enlightenment era. In his essay "What is Enlightenment?", Kant defined Enlightenment as mankind's release from self-incurred immaturity and the ability to think independently without guidance from others. Kant also questioned whether reason alone can understand the world, arguing that perceptions and observations cannot reveal universal truths. In his work "Critique of Pure Reason", Kant examined the limits of pure reason and emphasized intuition over empiricism. Kant developed the notion of the "categorical imperative" as the fundamental principle of morality, stating that moral actions are those whose motivations could become universal laws for all people.

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    Self-Notes

    World History

    Enlightenment: Philosophers and thinkers (Part-I)

    Immanuel Kant

    About Kant

     Immanuel Kant is a philosopher who tried to work out how


    human beings could be good and kind – outside of the
    exhortations and blandishments of traditional religion.

     He was born in 1724 in the Baltic city of Königsberg, which at


    that time was part of Prussia, and now belongs to Russia
    (renamed Kaliningrad).

    ADHYAYAN

    His family were deeply religious and very strict. Later in life,
    Kant did not have any conventional religious belief, but he was
    acutely aware of how much religion had contributed to his
    parents’ ability to cope with all the hardships of their existence
    – and how useful religion could be in fostering social cohesion
    and community.
     He is considered as a stalwart figure in the era of Enlightenment
    who gave new dimensions to the emerging stream of ideas all
    across Europe.
    Enlightenment is man's release
    from his self-incurred
    immaturity. Immaturity is
    Contributions of Kant man's inability to make use of
    his understanding without
    What is Enlightenment? direction from another. This
    immaturity is self-imposed
     In an essay called What is Enlightenment (published in 1784), when its cause lies not in lack
    of reason but in lack of
    he presents his own interpretation of the emergent movement. resolution and courage to use it
     Elaborating on the principle “Sapere Aude”, "Have courage to without direction from another.
    use your own understanding!”, he said Enlightenment would
    lead to
    o A stage when mankind individually and collectively
    Sapere aude!
    begins to think for themselves "Have courage to use your own
    o Liberation of the human consciousness from an reason!"
    immature state of ignorance and error and a state where
    a human is not restricted by thoughts of previous
    generations or thoughts of others.
    o Development of one’s own thoughts without others
    guidance

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    ADHYAYAN

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    Revolution and Enlightenment
     Revolution in his view - change of political setup by overthrow
    of old autocratic, non - representative absolutism.
     But it doesn’t necessarily lead to new thought process and
    outlook.
     Sometimes with revolution, new prejudices, just like the old
    ones they replace, will serve as a leash for the great unthinking
    mass.

    Kant and Reason


     In his work ‘Critique of Pure Reason’ (1781), he tried to
    examine the limit and scope of pure reason.
     Reason based conscience or intuition.
    o Redefined reason in association with metaphysics and
    represented a philosophical reaction against unchallenged
    supremacy of reasoning in the age of enlightenment.
    ADHYAYAN

    Kant’s and Anti-Enlightenment


     Kant wrote the Critique toward the end of the Enlightenment,
    which was then in a state of crisis.

    The Enlightenment was a reaction to the rise and successes of


    modern science in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
    The spectacular achievements of Newton in particular
    engendered widespread confidence and optimism about the
    power of human reason to control nature and to improve human
    life. One effect of this new confidence in reason was that
    traditional authorities were increasingly questioned.

     He represented the ‘German enlightenment mistrust of


    empiricism’ in contravention to the ‘French enlightenment
    based on rationality and empiricism’
     His emphasis on intuition carried an element of ‘romanticism’
     He questioned whether reason alone can enable humans to
    understand and perceive the world. Perceptions and
    observations can’t truly reveal universal truths of the world.
     He argues that human understanding is the source of the
    general laws of nature that structure all our experience

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    Kant’s Morality and Categorical Imperative
     Kant’s moral philosophy is also based on the idea of autonomy.
     Freedom, for Kant, is thus not the “freedom” to follow one’s
    inclinations. Instead, freedom implies morality, and morality
    implies freedom.
     Morality of an action is determined primarily by the motivation
    behind the action.
     He holds that there is a single fundamental principle of morality,
    on which all specific moral duties are based.
     This moral law (as it is manifested to us) is the categorical
    imperative.
     Categorical Imperative represents the supreme moral principle of
    duty to be followed all the time, in every circumstances. It is
    universal and unconditional or absolute for all agents.
     Gandhian non - violence, righteousness are examples of this.
     To establish a litmus test for categorical imperative he said, always
    act in such a way that you would be willing for it to become a
    general law that everyone else should do the same in the same
    ADHYAYAN

    situation.

    Kant’s Morality and Politics


     Kant is critical of political thinkers, such as Machiavelli, who
    believe that amoral or immoral means are permissible in politics.
     Still, although Kant argues that morality is obligatory in politics, he
    does not believe that people’s actual political behaviour is
    controlled by duty.
     Kant does not argue merely that individuals enter the state or
    social contract for prudential reasons, because their interests are
    best served by the state, but also that we have an obligation to
    respect human freedom, and this requires us to create a
    Rechtsstaat if one does not already exist etc.

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