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., Where The Consequences, So To Speak, of Kant's Approach Are Brought Out. For
., Where The Consequences, So To Speak, of Kant's Approach Are Brought Out. For
., Where The Consequences, So To Speak, of Kant's Approach Are Brought Out. For
German philosopher and scientist; as a scientist developed ideas of the evolution of solar system from a gaseous
nebular, retardation of Earth's rotation by the tides, the concept of a Universe composed of Galaxies, thus playing
important role in shaping the view of Nature as developing according to its own processes. In philosophy he was
the founder of the "Critical Philosophy"; immediate precursor of Hegel. Kant confronted the problem posed by
Hume showing that if knowledge could only be derived from experience, then in fact there could be no knowledge
of a world "beyond sensation" - and yet positive knowledge clearly did exist. In studying the forms of cognition
and its limits, Kant developed a philosophy riddled with contradictions which provided the material upon which
Hegel was able to build. Kant held that "things-in-themselves" (beyond sensation) were in principle unknowable -
only "phenomena" are knowable. Showing that opposite propositions about the nature of reality can be proved,
Kant held that these contradictions are only "seeming" and knowledge of "things-in-themselves" is accessible only
by Faith. The influence of Kant is still far more extensive than that of Hegel among today's philosophers and social
theorists.
The philosophical world into which Immanuel Kant entered was one riven by apparently irresolvable
contradictions. The period from Kant's beginning work on his major work, Critique of Pure Reason, in 1769 and
the publication of its authoritative second edition in 1787 was the period of the immediate gestation of the French
Revolution. But the Revolution was not bringing forth a clear new philosophical view of the world. On the
contrary, supporters of the Revolution adhered to divers schools of philosophy, hardly even able to speak the same
philosophical language.
Kant lived in the Prussia of Frederick the Great, an absolutist monarch who raised Prussia to the status of a
European power in which the arts and sciences flourished, but where politcal life was virtually totally absent. A
contemporary of Goethe, the great composer, scientist and philosopher, Kant was in his earlier years also absorbed
with scientific problems and developed important ideas of the evolution of the Solar System, Galaxies, and the
retardation of the rotation of the Earth by the tides. During this period he tended towards empiricism and was
influenced by the Scepticism of David Hume.
However, from when he began work on what was to become the Critique of Pure Reason (his later works were
Critique of Practical Reason and Critique of Judgment), Kant became intensely dissatisfied with the state of war
which seemed to exist in philosophy, and took upon himself the task of resolving this conflict.
Three readings from the Critique of Pure Reason are included in the Reference Archive:
From the last section, Transcendental Doctrine of Method, a short piece is included which gives a glimpse of the
genesis of Kant's views, including a concise criticism of his former mentor, David Hume: The Impossibility of a
Sceptical Satisfaction of Pure Reason.
From the Introduction, the opening pages, in which Kant unfolds the principle concepts of his system: synthetic
and analytic judgments, a priori and a posteriori, etc.: Of the difference between Pure and Empirical Knowledge.
From about a quarter of the way through the Critique, the section entitled Transcendental Deduction of the Pure
Concepts of the Understanding, where the consequences, so to speak, of Kant's approach are brought out. For
instance, you might look at the section entitled: The Category has no other Application in Knowledge than to
Objects of Experience.
Kant's achievement was enormous: he established a system of categories and concepts of philosophy which was the
basis for the stunning development of Classical German Philosophy (Kant, Fichte, Schelling, Hegel and
Feuerbach) and later Marxism over the 50 years following the Critique of Pure Reason, and it remains the point of
reference for all schools of philosophy which pretend to the status of science, up to the present.
In focussing attention of the Categories of knowledge, Kant set the direction and provided invaluable tools for the
resolution of the crisis of philosophy which he attempted, even if he did not himself achieve this resolution.
See Hegel on Kant in his History of Philosophy, Hegel's assessment of Kant in the footnote in the Science of
Logic, extended critique of Kant in The Critical Philosophy and other assessements in the sampler.
Kant is possibly even more influential today as a result of his Moral Philosophy. See Kant Archive.
Su formación primaria se basó sobre todo en el estudio de los clásicos, mientras que sus estudios
superiores versaron sobre Física y Matemáticas. Desde 1746 hasta 1755, debido al fallecimiento de su
padre, tuvo que interrumpir sus estudios y trabajar como preceptor privado. Gracias a la ayuda
económica de un amigo pudo seguir estudiando y en 1755 consiguió su doctorado, comenzando así
una intensa carrera docente en la propia Universidad de Königsberg, dónde impartió clases de Física,
Matemáticas y Filosofía.
Llevó una vida sumamente ordenada y metódica, y jamás se le conocieron escándalos ni amoríos. Sus
enseñanzas teológicas, basadas en el racionalismo y no en la revelación divina, le crearon problemas
con el gobierno de Prusia y, en 1794, el rey Guillermo II le prohibió impartir clases o escribir sobre
temas religiosos. Kant acató la orden hasta la muerte del Rey. En 1798, tras 43 años de vida docente,
se retiró. Falleció un 12 de febrero de 1804 en Königsberg.
Kant was born in Koenigsberg (now Russian city of Kaliningrad) on April 22, 1724, studied at the Collegium
Fredericianum from 1732 to 1740, when he joined the university in his hometown
Its primary was based mainly on the study of the classics, while their higher studies focused on Physics and
Mathematics. From 1746 to 1755, because of the death of his father, he had to interrupt their studies and work as a
private tutor. Thanks to the financial assistance of a friend was able to continue studying and got his doctorate in
1755, thus beginning an intensive teaching career at the University of Koenigsberg, where he taught Physics,
Mathematics and Philosophy
It took a life very orderly and methodical, and never knew him scandals or love affairs. Their theological
teachings, based on rationalism and not on divine revelation, it created problems with the government of
Prussia, and in 1794, King William II banned from teaching or writing on religious themes. Kant abided
the order until the death of King. In 1798, after 43 years teaching, was withdrawn. He died a February
12, 1804 at Koenigsberg.
OBRAS PRINCIPALES
Crítica de la razón pura (1781): Piedra angular de la filosofía kantiana, analiza las bases del conocimiento
humano y crea una epistemología individual.
Metafísica de las costumbres (1797): Kant describe en esta obra su sistema ético, basado en la idea de que la
razón es la autoridad última de la moral.
Crítica de la razón práctica (1788): En dicha obra, Kant se manifiesta partidario de la libertad fundamental del
individuo, el cual ha de gobernarse a sí mismo sin caer en la anarquía.
La paz perpetua (1795): El pensamiento político kantiano persigue la creación de una federación mundial de
estados republicanos.
La filosofía kantiana, desarrollada más tarde por el filósofo alemán Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, estableció los
cimientos sobre los que se edificó la estructura básica del pensamiento de Karl Marx. Kant dividía al mundo en
partes objetivas y subjetivas, cuyo conocimiento se alcanza a través de procesos dialécticos.
IMMANUEL KANT
Date of birth April 22, 1724 Koenigsberg
(now Russian city of
Kaliningrad)