Immanuel Kant Biography

Immanuel Kant, Philosopher
Occup.Philosopher
FromGermany
BornApril 22, 1724
Königsberg, Prussia (Now Kaliningrad, Russia)
DiedFebruary 12, 1804
Königsberg, Prussia
Aged79 years
Early Life and Education
Immanuel Kant was born upon April 22, 1724, in Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia), to a pious Lutheran family. His dad, Johann Georg Kant, was a master saddler, while his mother, Anna Regina Reuter, originated from a popular Königsberg household. Kant was the 4th of his parents' nine kids.

Immanuel Kant's early education was modest, going to the Collegium Fridericianum, a regional school where he was generally taught Latin and faith. In 1740, he entered the University of Königsberg, where he studied Philosophy, Mathematics, and Natural Sciences. He was greatly influenced by the work of philosopher Christian Wolff, a supporter of rationalism.

Teaching Career and Intellectual Development
Not able to find a suitable position in academia after getting his degree in 1746, Kant spent several years as a personal tutor for various families. This experience permitted him to broaden his knowledge in varied areas such as classical languages, history, and the natural sciences.

Lastly, in 1755, Kant handled to secure a position as a lecturer at the University of Königsberg, where he taught a large range of topics, consisting of metaphysics, logic, ethics, sociology, and natural sciences.

Throughout this time, Kant was affected by the works of contemporary philosophers such as George Berkeley and David Hume, whose concepts on empiricism challenged his rationalist childhood. These influences obliged him to reassess his own beliefs and marked the beginnings of his vital philosophy.

The Critical Period
Kant's important duration, spanning from the late 1760s to the late 1780s, saw the development of his central philosophical concepts, and the publications that would make him well-known. In 1781, Kant published his cutting-edge work, "Critique of Pure Reason", in which he developed his ingenious and prominent idea of the relationship in between truth and understanding. Specifically, he attempted to bridge the space between rationalism and empiricism by arguing that human understanding is limited by the structure of our minds, and that we can never ever understand things as they really are-- only as they appear to us.

In 1785, Kant published "Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals", which even more elaborated on his ethical theory. At the core of this work is the concept of the "categorical essential", an ethical concept that states that actions must be based upon universal principles that can be universally used.

In the years that followed, Kant continued to articulate and refine his philosophical ideas. Most significantly, he released "Critique of Practical Reason" (1788), where he checked out the relationship in between factor and morality, and "Critique of Judgment" (1790), which concentrated on aesthetic appeals and teleology.

Later On Career and Personal Life
As Kant's popularity grew, he got recognition from the German intellectual and political facilities. In 1786, he was selected a full professor at the University of Königsberg, which allowed him to focus more on his composing and philosophical pursuits.

Kant never ever wed and lived a fairly solitary and regimented life. He was understood for his punctuality, typically taking everyday walks around Königsberg at the exact same time each day-- a regimen that residents famously referred to as "Kant's walk".

In his later years, Kant's health began to decrease. He experienced memory loss, and his once prodigious intellectual abilities subsided. Immanuel Kant passed away on February 12, 1804, in his home town of Königsberg.

Effect and Legacy
Immanuel Kant is commonly considered among the most crucial theorists in Western viewpoint. His crucial philosophy, notably the "Critique of Pure Reason", has actually had an extensive influence on both thinkers and thinkers of lots of disciplines, and his ideas continue to form philosophical arguments to this day.

Kant's ethical theory, with its emphasis on the categorical crucial and the intrinsic self-respect of people, has significantly influenced modern-day moral viewpoint, political idea, and human-rights discourses. Philosophers such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Friedrich Nietzsche, and John Rawls have all grappled with and been affected by Kant's concepts.

In short, Immanuel Kant played a crucial role in shaping the intellectual landscape of the modern-day age, and his impact on the fields of metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetic appeals will continue to be felt for generations to come.

Our collection contains 35 quotes who is written / told by Immanuel.

Related authors: Friedrich Nietzsche (Philosopher), Aristotle (Philosopher), Jean-Paul Sartre (Philosopher), Peter Nivio Zarlenga (Businessman), George Matthew Adams (Philosopher), John Stuart Mill (Philosopher), Victor Cousin (Philosopher), Johann Gottfried von Herder (Philosopher), Adam Weishaupt (Clergyman), Philo (Philosopher)

Immanuel Kant Famous Works:
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35 Famous quotes by Immanuel Kant

Small: He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man
"He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals"
Small: In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks
"In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so"
Small: Intuition and concepts constitute... the elements of all our knowledge, so that neither concepts withou
"Intuition and concepts constitute... the elements of all our knowledge, so that neither concepts without an intuition in some way corresponding to them, nor intuition without concepts, can yield knowledge"
Small: Metaphysics is a dark ocean without shores or lighthouse, strewn with many a philosophic wreck
"Metaphysics is a dark ocean without shores or lighthouse, strewn with many a philosophic wreck"
Small: Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life
"Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life"
Small: If man makes himself a worm he must not complain when he is trodden on
"If man makes himself a worm he must not complain when he is trodden on"
Small: I had therefore to remove knowledge, in order to make room for belief
"I had therefore to remove knowledge, in order to make room for belief"
Small: Happiness is not an ideal of reason, but of imagination
"Happiness is not an ideal of reason, but of imagination"
Small: From such crooked wood as that which man is made of, nothing straight can be fashioned
"From such crooked wood as that which man is made of, nothing straight can be fashioned"
Small: Experience without theory is blind, but theory without experience is mere intellectual play
"Experience without theory is blind, but theory without experience is mere intellectual play"
Small: Even philosophers will praise war as ennobling mankind, forgetting the Greek who said: War is bad in th
"Even philosophers will praise war as ennobling mankind, forgetting the Greek who said: 'War is bad in that it begets more evil than it kills.'"
Small: By a lie, a man... annihilates his dignity as a man
"By a lie, a man... annihilates his dignity as a man"
Small: But although all our knowledge begins with experience, it does not follow that it arises from experienc
"But although all our knowledge begins with experience, it does not follow that it arises from experience"
Small: Always recognize that human individuals are ends, and do not use them as means to your end
"Always recognize that human individuals are ends, and do not use them as means to your end"
Small: All thought must, directly or indirectly, by way of certain characters, relate ultimately to intuitions
"All thought must, directly or indirectly, by way of certain characters, relate ultimately to intuitions, and therefore, with us, to sensibility, because in no other way can an object be given to us"
Small: All the interests of my reason, speculative as well as practical, combine in the three following questi
"All the interests of my reason, speculative as well as practical, combine in the three following questions: 1. What can I know? 2. What ought I to do? 3. What may I hope?"
Small: All our knowledge begins with the senses, proceeds then to the understanding, and ends with reason. The
"All our knowledge begins with the senses, proceeds then to the understanding, and ends with reason. There is nothing higher than reason"
Small: Act that your principle of action might safely be made a law for the whole world
"Act that your principle of action might safely be made a law for the whole world"
Small: A categorical imperative would be one which represented an action as objectively necessary in itself, w
"A categorical imperative would be one which represented an action as objectively necessary in itself, without reference to any other purpose"
Small: Religion is the recognition of all our duties as divine commands
"Religion is the recognition of all our duties as divine commands"
Small: Out of timber so crooked as that from which man is made nothing entirely straight can be carved
"Out of timber so crooked as that from which man is made nothing entirely straight can be carved"
Small: Nothing is divine but what is agreeable to reason
"Nothing is divine but what is agreeable to reason"
Small: Morality is not the doctrine of how we may make ourselves happy, but how we may make ourselves worthy o
"Morality is not the doctrine of how we may make ourselves happy, but how we may make ourselves worthy of happiness"
Small: To be is to do
"To be is to do"
Small: Seek not the favor of the multitude it is seldom got by honest and lawful means. But seek the testimony
"Seek not the favor of the multitude; it is seldom got by honest and lawful means. But seek the testimony of few; and number not voices, but weigh them"
Small: So act that your principle of action might safely be made a law for the whole world
"So act that your principle of action might safely be made a law for the whole world"
Small: What can I know? What ought I to do? What can I hope?
"What can I know? What ought I to do? What can I hope?"
Small: The only objects of practical reason are therefore those of good and evil. For by the former is meant a
"The only objects of practical reason are therefore those of good and evil. For by the former is meant an object necessarily desired according to a principle of reason; by the latter one necessarily shunned, also according to a principle of reason"
Small: May you live your life as if the maxim of your actions were to become universal law
"May you live your life as if the maxim of your actions were to become universal law"
Small: Live your life as though your every act were to become a universal law
"Live your life as though your every act were to become a universal law"
Small: It is not necessary that whilst I live I live happily but it is necessary that so long as I live I shou
"It is not necessary that whilst I live I live happily; but it is necessary that so long as I live I should live honourably"
Small: It is not Gods will merely that we should be happy, but that we should make ourselves happy
"It is not God's will merely that we should be happy, but that we should make ourselves happy"
Small: It is beyond a doubt that all our knowledge that begins with experience
"It is beyond a doubt that all our knowledge that begins with experience"
Small: Ingratitude is the essence of vileness
"Ingratitude is the essence of vileness"
Small: Immaturity is the incapacity to use ones intelligence without the guidance of another
"Immaturity is the incapacity to use one's intelligence without the guidance of another"