Immanuel Kant’s Philosophy: A Comprehensive Analysis
Kant: Your Ideas
Kant himself sums up the aim of his philosophy in three broad questions:
- What can I do?
- What should I do?
- What may I expect?
These three questions relate to a further, more abstract one: What is man?
What Can I Do? (Theory of Knowledge)
Metaphysics and science: What were the conditions of possibility of science as valid knowledge? Once learned, as science can only be done by assessing whether in metaphysics such conditions exist to determine whether knowledge can be scientific.
The elements of knowledge: We say that knowledge starts with experience but is not limited to it. It is a combination of two elements: the empirical data obtained from the experience, which are a posteriori, and what the knowing subject provides, which is a priori.
A transcendental inquiry: To analyze these elements in advance of doing research involves understanding the transcendental. The theory of knowledge, which is based on Kantian philosophy, discovers a new field to be applied correctly.
The judgments of knowledge: Knowledge is expressed in the form of judgments, i.e., statements about what we know. A lawsuit says something (predicate) about another thing (subject). The trials are divided into:
- Analytic judgments: Those whose predicate explains or analyzes the subject, but without adding anything new to its meaning. The truth of these judgments is universal and necessary a priori.
- Synthetic judgments: Those whose predicate expresses a property of the subject, which is not contained in it. It increases our knowledge with new information. A posteriori.
What judgments does science make?: Analytic judgments are a priori (no need to resort to experience), and synthetics are a posteriori (we check them empirically). Kant found that trials that give scientists their certainty are synthetic and a priori. Synthetic because the properties were not contained in the subject, and a priori, which makes them universal, necessary, and not merely probable.
We construct synthetic judgments a priori from innate elements that condition all our knowledge.
- Sensitivity: Data provided directly by the senses. Sensibility “processes” feelings, ordering them in space and time.
- Understanding: The perceptions coming from sensitivity (categories like substance, relation, causality).
The ideas of reason: Kant rightly observes how our aims go beyond empirical knowledge and tend to form three major concepts or a priori ideas of reason:
- I (the soul): We assume its existence as the ultimate basis of all our knowledge and feelings.
- The world: We presume its existence, of reality itself.
- God: We tend to think this must be absolute, the supreme concept that synthesizes all that exists.
These three concepts are a priori, transcendental. But it is impossible to find an empirical correlation. Kant calls ideas of reason are not valid knowledge, but an indicative value.
What Should I Do? (Ethics)
Kantian philosophy distinguishes between theoretical use and practical use. Kant wants to base one’s ethics on reason, for the pure principles a priori of practical reason.
To act from duty: Kant believes that the rightness or wrongness of an action lies in the intention that guides it. Goodwill is when we act according to duty, motivated only by respect for duty. The moral obligation is expressed in an imperative need in all circumstances.
Formulations of the categorical imperative: Kant’s attempts to determine the moral imperative, therefore, without ever leaving his purely rational process, a priori, by principle. So, he comes to a first formulation of the categorical imperative: <>. The rules we choose to govern our actions must not be particular and personal but valid for any rational being. From this follows another formulation that turns out to be a test to see if maxims are good or bad: <>. One can only rationally will things that are equally rational, i.e., possible, not contradictory.
An enlightened ethics: The autonomy of reason: Kant demands of ethics that it is rational, that is: it is the individual, with his reason, who is himself the source of his laws. For Kant, any actions of a person who respects ethical standards but accepts them uncritically lack any value. The will must rule itself and be guided by it, otherwise, goodwill becomes inauthentic (heteronomy). This assertion of autonomy, and thus freedom, is one of the fundamental contributions of Kantian ethics.
What May I Expect? (Philosophy of Religion)
The postulate of practical reason: In the Critique of Pure Reason, Kant had concluded that metaphysics could not be a science. Kant called the postulate of practical reason (fundamental issues for humans), the immortality of the soul, freedom, and the existence of God. He considers that morality, the obligation to act from duty, is freedom. The immortality of the soul is set to postulate perfection because the suction in the line of duty cannot be achieved entirely in the time of human life but requires an infinite time. And the existence of God is a requirement to ensure that ultimately, virtue will be rewarded with happiness.
What is Man? (Philosophical Anthropology)
Kantian Humanism: Another formulation of the categorical imperative is as follows: <>. Under this mandate, the law obliges us to respect human beings (they have an absolute value). That special status of humans comes from its freedom: rational beings capable of giving themselves a moral law are free beings, and for them, specific suppliers hold a dignity that demands respect.
Dignity and not price: This dignity is a novel idea. The novelty now is that dignity is intrinsic to human beings, something that is merely a human being and that creates an obligation to respect. Humans, says Kant, have dignity and not a price.
The person’s dignity and not price: Autonomy is the foundation of human dignity. Morality is within us and in it, there are some real constraints and a rational construction, free, and autonomous imperative to guide action.
Historical Framework
Kant lived for much of the eighteenth century, a period of relative calm. In this period, there is some common culture, produced by the Enlightenment. This common mindset sought better laws and progress. Regarding Kant, the most important event that occurs at the time is the French Revolution. It is also the dawn of the first industrial revolution. The most common form of government was absolute monarchy; the people did not participate in this development actively. The longing for peace that all had led some enlightened, like Kant, to make proposals to achieve this. When Kant was born, Frederick William I reigned in Prussia. With this monarch, the country reached great internal development. He was succeeded by his son Frederick the Great. He had frequent contacts with French enlightened philosophers. He promoted culture and education and reached even greater heights than his father. He provided the welfare of the people but without their participation. He was succeeded by his nephew, William II. He prevented the spread of culture, led the country to bankruptcy, and Prussia lost the prestige it had in previous reigns. The latter coincided with the monarch at the time Kant was alive, William III. He attempted to regain the country’s economy and held various wars with France.
Sociocultural Context
Toward the middle of the 18th century, a significant population increase took place in European society. The state economy was at low levels. Eighteenth-century society was composed of aristocrats, bourgeois, craftsmen, and peasants. There were various levels in line with the economic situation of each person. The peasants and craftsmen were aspiring bourgeoisie, with whom they allied to fight the aristocracy. The bourgeoisie had been the creator of a new vision of man and the most common humanity, without resigning themselves to the conscience of an individual citizen or a member of a State. The Enlightenment is a time when classical metaphysics had fallen. Experience rocked loaded rationalism. God was not on his old pedestal either. The enlightened spirit manifested itself with its own characteristics in each of the three countries in which it developed, adopting different names. In France, it took the name of Lumières and was presented by the Encyclopedists. It characterized the historical development of science and the consideration of an educated man but also the progress of science and literature. In England, it was called Enlightenment. It was characterized by its advocacy of political freedom and religious tolerance. In Germany, it took the name of Aufklärung. Society was largely feudal. The most representative figure was Kant, although he cannot be confined to this movement; it was he himself who set the limits to enlightened optimism when making its critique of reason. The enlightened is not a conspirator but a man struggling against power with the force of culture.
Philosophical Framework
Kant was educated in Pietism (a religion of Lutheran origin). Pietism understood the Christian faith as a relationship with God and defended that the world could be Christianized through believers. Kant later hated Pietism. Kant’s thinking is part of religion and his works are of varied subjects: Critique of Practical Reason, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, and The Metaphysics of Morals. The aim of the foundation is the moral basis, not on sentiment but on practical grounds, without any empirical intervention. In 18th-century Europe, European thought was guided by philosophers. In philosophy emerged a strong implication toward the problems of man. The center of philosophy became the schools. The fulcrum of philosophers was reason, a critical reason. It was intended to use reason in a free, autonomous, and public way, than to be accepted the value of tolerance. The enlightened philosophers abandoned Cartesian rationalism; this meant that at the origin of knowledge are sensations. Kant intended to realize their ideas in their country. The focus of his reflection was man. For Kant, the Enlightenment is “the departure of man from his self-incurred minority.” Man himself was guilty of lack of autonomy because of poor decision. The main obstacle Kant faced in this project was religious issues. The German Enlightenment is considered the beginning of modernity in Europe. Kant initially believed in miracles and that God could intervene in history and thus change the destiny of man. Kant postulated freedom as a necessary and proper to be rational. This is the genre that may have goodwill and moral courage that could give man’s life.
Influences
Kant had initially received a rationalist formation, especially from Wolff. The works of Leibniz and Descartes caught his attention. He also read Newton. And Hume’s reading of rationalism fled, admitting the value of knowledge in the sensations. Contact with Rousseau allowed him to put a doubt on the scientific knowledge of reaching true happiness of man. Kant developed his own personal interpretation of reality.
Repercussions
The first major impact of Kant is presented in German Idealism, which was initially filed by the different thinkers of this trend, such as Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel. Through Hegel, Kant’s influence on Karl Marx would lay the foundation of the dialect. A second derivative of the Kantian current is that of the neo-Kantians. It pretended to be a reaction against idealistic interpretations of Kant; the author presented a vision mixed with positivism, which resulted in a philosophy meant almost as a theory of science. Neo-Kantian thinkers are Cohen, whose classes were attended by Ortega y Gasset, Natorp, and Cassirer. All of them are representatives of the Marburg School, which basically occupies Kantian aspects of knowledge. The Baden School, where Weber stands out, focuses more on the foundation of the sciences of the mind and the theory of values. Neo-Kantianism later derived into other proposals related to existence, and others with phenomenology. Logical empiricism did not accept Kant’s ideas about science. Popper positively appreciated Kant’s positions on science, as did Lorenz.
Effectiveness
Kant sees a man liberated from the inclinations that present their senses. Their actions will not be determined by nature but by the autonomy of their will. To provide power to the will, man can give himself purpose. Kant’s ethics are based on the concepts of freedom, autonomy, and universality. In the field of knowledge, the problem is whether our knowledge is more effective. The question of whether science can answer all human problems survives today with even greater force the greater the height reached in research in their field.