Kant’s Philosophy: A Synthesis of Rationalism and Empiricism
Kant’s Philosophy
Transcendental Idealism
Transcendental dialectics is a critical part of pure reason. It studies the various legitimate uses of reason to understand categories, a key problem in metaphysics. Metaphysics can never be a science, but rather a study of natural human dispositions. The use of practical reason is key to Kant’s philosophy.
Formal Ethics
Kant aimed to establish how actions could be deemed morally correct. He divided actions into:
- Contrary to Duty: Actions performed by those who understand moral duty but do not respect it.
- Conformity to Duty: Actions performed by those who understand and fulfill moral duty, but only for external reasons.
- Duty-Bound: Actions performed by those who understand and fulfill moral duty because it is their obligation.
Kant’s ethics centers on the categorical imperative: “Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.” This universal ethic is relentlessly moral.
Postulates of Practical Reason
Through practical reason, we can obtain metaphysical knowledge (God, freedom, and the soul). The three postulates are:
- Freedom: Moral action requires freedom of the will.
- Immortality: An infinite lifespan is needed to achieve moral perfection.
- God: God guarantees the harmony of morality and happiness.
Political Thought
Kant believed in historical progress towards an enlightened, civil, critical, tolerant, and rational society, achieving perpetual peace. This utopian vision is challenged by humanity’s “unsociable sociability.”
Kant’s Influences and Objectives
Kant synthesized modern rationalism and empiricism to form transcendental idealism. His main objective was to critique knowledge, understand its structure, and avoid errors. This critique promotes freedom, progress, and humanity. Kant believed philosophy should answer these questions:
- What can I know? (Epistemology)
- What should I do? (Ethics)
- What may I hope for? (Metaphysics and Politics)
- What is man? (Anthropology)
Theoretical Reason and Metaphysics
Kant analyzed the limits of scientific knowledge. He questioned whether metaphysics could be a science. He defined science as a set of judgments forming reasoned arguments. He classified judgments:
- Analytic: The predicate is contained within the subject. These judgments are not scientific as they don’t expand knowledge.
- Synthetic: The predicate adds to the subject. These can be scientific as they expand knowledge.
He also classified judgments based on their relation to experience:
- A priori: Known without experience, universal and necessary.
- A posteriori: Known through experience, contingent and individual.
Kant focused on synthetic a priori judgments. He examined human knowledge conditions:
- Empirical: Specific and unique to each act of knowing.
- Transcendental: Universal, a priori, and general structures.
Kant established that the subject is active in the act of knowing, calling the object of knowledge “phenomena.”
Transcendental Aesthetic
This part of Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason focuses on the study of sensibility. Sensitive knowledge is a synthesis between the given (sensations) and the forms of intuition (space and time), which are a priori.
Transcendental Analytic
This part focuses on the understanding. Intellectual knowledge is a synthesis between the given (sensations) and the categories of understanding. A key category is cause and effect.