Immanuel Kant(UK:/

kænt /
,[
18][
19]US:/kɑː
nt/;
[20]
[21]German:[
ɪˈ
maːnu̯eː lˈ
kant
,-
nu̯ɛl -
];
[22]
[23]22April
1724–12Febr uar
y1804)wasaGer manphilosopherandoneofthe
centr
alEnli
ghtenmentthi
nkers.[
24]
[25]Kant
'scompr ehensi
veandsystematicworksin
epist
emology,metaphysi
cs,ethi
cs,andaesthet
icshav emadehim oneofthemosti nf
luent
ial
fi
guresi
nmoder nWesternphil
osophy

Inhisdoct ri
neoftranscendent al
idealism, Kantar guedt hatspaceandt imear emer e"formsof
i
ntuition"whi chstr
uct ur
eal lexperience, andt herefor
et hatwhi l
e" t
hings-i
n-themsel ves"exist
andcont ri
butetoexper i
ence, t
heyar enonet helessdistinctfrom theobj ectsofexper i
ence.From
thi
si tfoll
owst hattheobj ectsofexper iencear emer e" appear ances",andt hatthenat ureof
thi
ngsast heyareinthemsel vesisconsequent l
yunknowabl et ous.[27]
[28]Inanat temptt o
count ertheskept i
cism hef oundi nt hewr it
ingsofphi losopherDav idHume, hewr ot ethe
Crit
iqueofPur eReason( 1781/ 1787) ,
[
29]oneofhi smostwel l
-knownwor ks.Init
, hedev eloped
histheor yofexperiencet oanswert hequest ionofwhet hersy ntheti
capr ioriknowl edgeis
possible, whichwoul dintur nmakei tpossibl etodetermi nethelimitsofmet aphysicalinquir
y.
Kantdr ewapar all
eltotheCoper nicanr evolutioninhispr oposal t
hattheobj ectsoft hesenses
mustconf ormt oourspat ial andtempor alformsofi ntui ti
on,andt hatwecanconsequent l
yhave
aprior icogniti
onoft heobj ectsoft hesenses. [
b]

Kantbel ievedthatr easoni sal sot hesour ceofmor ali

ty,
andt hataest heticsar
isef
rom afaculty
ofdisinterestedjudgment .Kant 'sv iewscont i
nuet ohav eamaj ori
nf l
uenceoncont emporary
phil
osophy ,especiall
yt hefieldsofepi stemol ogy ,ethi
cs,polit
icalt
heor y,andpost-
moder n
aesthetics.[
26]Heat tempt edt oexpl ainther elati
onshipbet weenr easonandhumanexper i
ence
andt omov ebey ondwhathebel iev edtobet hef ail
uresoft r
aditi
onal phil
osophyand
met aphy si
cs.Hewant edtoputanendt owhathesawasaner aoff uti
leandspeculat
ive
theoriesofhumanexper i
ence, whiler esi
st i
ngt heskept i
cism ofthinkerssuchasHume.He
regardedhi msel fasshowi ngt hewaypastt hei mpassebet weenr ationali
stsandempirici
sts,
[
31]
andi swi delyheldtohav esy nthesi zedbot htraditi
onsinhi sthought.[32]

Kantwasanexponentoft heideat hatperpetual peacecoul dbesecur edt hroughuni versal

democr acyandi nter nati
onalcooper ati
on, andt hatperhapst hiscouldbet hecul minatingst age
ofwor ldhistory.[
33]Thenat ureofKant 'srel
igiousv i
ewscont i
nuest obet hesubj ectofschol ar
ly
dispute,withv i
ewpoi ntsrangingf r
om t heimpr essionthatheshi ft
edf rom anear l
ydefenseof
anont ologicalargumentf ortheexi stenceofGodt oaprincipledagnost i
cism, tomor ecr it
ical
treatmentsepi t
omi zedbySchopenhauer ,
whocr i
tici
zedt heimperativeform ofKant ianet hics
as" t
heologicalmor als"andt he"Mosai cDecal ogueindisguise",[
34]andNi etzsche,whocl aimed
thatKanthad" theol ogianblood"[35]andwasmer elyasophist i
catedapologi stfortr
adi t
ional
Chr i
sti
anf ait
h.[
c]Bey ondhisreli
giousv iews, Kanthasal sobeencr i
ti
cizedf ortheracism
presentedi nsomeofhi sl
esser-knownpaper s,suchas" Ont heUseofTel eologicalPrinciplesin
Phil
osophy "and" Ont heDi fferentRacesofMan" .[
37][38][39][40]Al thoughhewasapr oponent
ofscienti
fi
cr acism f ormuchofhi scar eer,Kant'sviewsonr acechangedsi gnifi
cantl
yi nthel ast
decadeofhi sl i
fe, andheul ti
mat el yr ejectedracialhierarchiesandEur opeancol oniali
sm i n
PerpetualPeace: APhi losophi cal Sket ch( 1795),thoughst il
lconsi deringEur opeansas
"ci
vil
i
zed"t otheexcept i
onofot her s. [
41]Themostser i
ouspr obl emsi ntheconsi derationof
Kant'
sphi l
osophi callegacycamei nt hel atenineteenthcent urywi t htheadv entofmoder n
l
ogic.[
accordingt owhom? ]Logi cianssuchasGot tlobFrege, Kur tGödel ,Will
ardVanOr man
Quineandmostr ecentlySaul Kr ipke, rejectedtheent irepr emi sesofKant '
sl ogicasgr oundedi n
metaphy si
cs.[ci
t ationneeded]Wi lli
am andMar t
haKneal ehav eal sonot edthatitwasKant" with
histr
anscendent alism whobegunt hecur i
ousmi xtureofmet aphy sicsandepi st
emol ogywhi ch
waspr esentedasl ogicbyHegel andt heot herphi l
osopher soft heni neteenthcentur y"[
42]
Eventuall
y,thef undament al pil
larofKant 'str
anscendent al i
deal ism, i
.ethatspaceandt i
mear e
purebutsubj ectiv eapr ioricondi ti
onsofhumanper ception, col lapsedwi t
ht headv entof
moder nquant um phy sicsandwasr efutedas" irr
ational"
.[accor dingt owhom? ]Al
bertEi nstei
n
onceexpl i
citl
ysai dt hat" i
fonedoesnotwantt oasser tthatr elat i
v it
yt heorygoesagai nstreason,
onecannotr etaint heapr ioriconcept sandnor msofKant ’
ssy stem" .
[43]

Kantpubli
shedotherimportantworksonethi
cs,r
eli
gion,l
aw, aesthet
ics,ast
ronomy,andhi
story
duri
nghisli
fet
ime.TheseincludetheUniv
ersalNat
ural Hi
story(1755),t
heCr i
ti
queofPract
ical
Reason(1788),
theCr i
ti
queofJudgment( 1790)
,Rel
igionwithintheBoundsofBar eReason
(1793)
,andtheMet aphysi
csofMor al
s(1797).

Kant '
smot her,AnnaRegi naReut er[
45](1697–1737) , wasbor ninKöni gsberg(since1946t he
cityofKaliningrad,Kal
iningr adOblast,Russi a)toaf atherfrom Nur ember g.Hersur namei s
somet imeser roneouslygi venasPor ter.Kant '
sfather ,JohannGeor gKant( 1682–1746) ,wasa
Ger manhar nessmakerf rom Memel ,att hetimePr ussi a'
smostnor theasterncity(nowKl ai
pėda,
Lithuania)
.Kantbel iev
edt hathispaternal grandfatherHansKantwasofScot ti
shor i
gin.
[46]
Whi l
eschol arsofKant '
sl i
fel ongaccept edt heclai
m, t
hereisnoev idencet hatKant '
spaternal
l
inewasScot t
ishandi tismor eli
kel
yt hatt heKantsgott heirnamef rom thevil
lageof
Kant waggen( todaypar tofPr iekul
ė)andwer eofCur onianor i
gin.
[47][48]Kantwast hefourthof
ninechildr
en( fourofwhom r eachedadul thood).[
49]

Kantwasbor non22Apr i
l1724i ntoaPr ussianGer manf amilyofLut heranProtest
antf ai
thin
Königsberg,EastPr ussia.BaptizedEmanuel ,helaterchangedt hespel li
ngofhisnamet o
Immanuel [
50]af t
erlearningHebr ew.Hewasbr oughtupi naPietisthouseholdthatstressed
rel
igi
ousdev otion,humi l
ity,andal i
terali
nterpretati
onoft heBible.[
51][ci
tat
ionneeded]Hi s
educati
onwasst ri
ct ,
puni t
iveanddi scipl
inary,andf ocusedonLat i
nandr el
igi
ousinstructi
on
overmat hemat i
csandsci ence.[52]Kantmai ntainedChr i
sti
anideal sforsomet i
me, but
str
uggledt oreconcilethef ait
hwi thhisbeliefinscience.[
53]Inhi sGroundwor kofthe
MetaphysicofMor als,herevealsabel
iefini
mmor tali
tyasthenecessaryconditi
onof
humanity'
sappr oacht othehighestmoral
it
ypossible.
[54][
55]Howev er
,asKantwasskepti
cal
aboutsomeoft heargument susedpri
ortohimindef enceoft hei
sm andmaintainedt
hat
humanunder standingislimit
edandcannev erat
tainknowl edgeaboutGodort hesoul
,var
ious
comment ator
shav el abell
edhim aphi
losophi
calagnostic.
[56][
57]
[58][
59]
[60]
[61]

Kantapparentl
ylivedav er
ystri
ctanddisci
plinedli
fe;itwassai
dthatneighborswoul
dsetthei
r
cl
ocksbyhi sdail
ywal ks.Henevermarri
ed,[62]butseemedt ohavearewar di
ngsoci
alli
fe—he
wasapopul arteacherandamodest lysuccessfulauthorevenbef
orestarti
ngonhismajor
phi
losophi
calwor ks.Hehadaci rcl
eoffri
endswi thwhom hef r
equent
lymet ,amongthem
JosephGreen,anEngl ishmerchantinKönigsberg.

Between1750and1754Kantworkedasatutor(
Hauslehrer
)inJudtschen[
63](
nowVesel
ovka,
Russi
a,appr
oxi
matel
y20km)andi nGroß-
Arnsdorf
[64](
nowJar noł
towonearMorąg(
German:
Mohrungen)
,Pol
and,appr
oxi
mately145km).

ManymythsgrewupaboutKant
'spersonalmanner
isms;
thesear
eli
sted,
expl
ained,
andrefuted
i
nGoldt
hwait'
sint
roduct
iont
ohi
stranslat
ionofObser
vat
ionsont
heFeeli
ngoftheBeaut
ifuland
Subl
i
me.[65]

Youngschol
arEdi
t

Kantshowedagr eatapt i
tudeforstudyatanear l
yage.Hef irstat t
endedt heCol l
egium
Fri
dericianum f r
om whi chhegraduat edatt heendoft hesummerof1740.I n1740, aged16, he
enroll
edatt heUni versit
yofKöni gsberg,wher ehespenthi swhol ecar eer
.[
66]Hest udiedt he
phil
osophyofGot tfri
edLei bni
zandChr i
stianWol ffunderMar t
inKnut zen( AssociatePr ofessor
ofLogi candMet aphy sicsfrom 1734unt i
l hisdeat hin1751) ,arationali
stwhowasal sof amili
ar
wit
hdev elopment si nBr i
ti
shphilosophyandsci enceandi ntroducedKantt ot henew
mat hemat icalphysicsofI saacNewt on.Knut zendi ssuadedKantf rom thet heoryofpr e-
establi
shedhar mony , whichheregardedas" thepi l
lowforthel azymi nd".[
67]Heal sodi ssuaded
Kantf r
om i deali
sm, t
hei deathatreali
tyispur el
yment al
,whi chmostphi l
osopher sint he18t h
centuryr egardedi nanegat i
veli
ght.Thet heoryoft ranscendent ali
deal i
sm thatKantl ater
i
ncludedi ntheCr i
tiqueofPur eReasonwasdev elopedpartiall
yi noppositi
ont otr
aditional
i
deal i
sm.
Hisfather
'sst
rokeandsubsequentdeathin1746i nterr
uptedhisstudies.Kantlef
tKöni
gsber
g
short
lyaft
erAugust1748[68]
—hewoul dreturnthereinAugust1754.[69]Hebecameapr i
vat
e
tut
orinthetownssurroundi
ngKönigsberg,butcontinuedhisschol
arlyresearch.I
n1749,he
publi
shedhisfir
stphi
l
osophical
wor k,
Thought sont heTrueEstimationofLivingFor
ces(wri
tt
en
i
n1745–47) .[
70]

Ear
lywor
k Edi
t

Kanti sbestknownf orhi swor kint hephi l

osophyofet hicsandmet aphy si cs,[
24]buthemade
significantcont ri
butionst oot herdi sci
plines.In1754, whilecont empl atingonapr izequest i
on
byt heBer linAcademyaboutt hepr obl
em ofEar t
h'sr ot ati
on, hear guedt hatt heMoon' sgravi
ty
woul dsl owdownEar th'sspinandheal soputf ortht hear gumentt hatgr av i
tywoul dev entual
ly
causet heMoon' stidal lockingt ocoi nci
dewi ththeEar th'srot ation.[
d] [
72]Thenexty ear,he
expandedt hisreasoni ngt ot hef ormationandev ol
ut ionoft heSol arSy stem i nhisUni versal
Nat ural Hist oryandTheor yoft heHeav ens. [
72]In1755, Kantr eceivedal icenset ol ectur
ei nthe
Uni versityofKöni gsber gandbeganl ecturingonav arietyoft opicsincludi ngmat hemat i
cs,
phy sics,logi candmet aphy sics.I nhis1756essayont het heor yofwi nds, Kantl aidoutan
original i
nsi ghtintot hecor i
olisf orce.I
n1757, Kantbeganl ect uri
ngongeogr aphybei ngoneof
thef ir
stpeopl etoexpl icitl
yteachgeogr aphyasi tsownsubj ect .
[73][74]Geogr aphywasoneof
Kant 'smostpopul arl ect ur
ingt opi csandi n1802acompi lationbyFr iedrichTheodorRi nkof
Kant 'slect uringnotes, Physical Geogr aphy ,wasr eleased.Af terKantbecameapr ofessorin
1770, heex pandedt het opicsofhi slecturest oincludel ectur esonnat ur al l
aw, et
hi csand
anthr opol ogyal ongwi thot hert opics.[
73]

Kant
'shousei
nKöni
gsber
g

Int heUniver salNat uralHistory,Kantlaidoutt heNebularhypothesis,i

nwhi chhededucedt hat
theSol arSy st em hadf ormedf rom al argecloudofgas, anebula.Kantalsocor rectl
ydeduced
(thought hroughusual lyfalsepr emisesandf al l
aci
ousreasoning,accordingtoBer tr
and
Russel l
)[
75]t hattheMi lkyWaywasal argediskofstars,whichhetheor i
zedf ormedf rom a
muchl ar
gerspi nninggascl oud.Hef urthersuggestedthatotherdistant"nebulae"mi ghtbe
othergal axi
es.Thesepost ul at
ionsopenednewhor iz
onsf orast
ronomy ,forthef i
rsttime
ext endi
ngitbey ondt heSol arSy st
em t ogalacticandinter
galacti
crealms. [
76]Accor dingto
ThomasHuxl ey(1867) ,Kantal somadecont ributi
onstogeologyinhi sUniversalNatur al
Hi stor
y.[
cit
at ionneeded]

Fr
om t
henon,
Kantt
urnedi
ncr
easi
ngl
ytophi
l
osophi
cal
issues,
alt
houghhecont
inuedt
owr
it
e
ont hesci encest hr
oughouthi sl if
e.Int heear l
y1760s, Kantpr oducedaser iesofi mpor tant
wor ksi nphi l
osophy .TheFal seSubt letyoft heFourSy l
logist i
cFi gur es, awor kinl ogic, was
publishedi n1762.Twomor ewor ksappear edt hef ollowi ngy ear :Att emptt oInt r
oducet he
ConceptofNegat iveMagni tudesi nt
oPhi l
osophyandTheOnl yPossi bleAr gumenti nSuppor tof
aDemonst r
ationoft heExi stenceofGod.By1764, Kanthadbecomeanot abl epopul araut hor ,
andwr ot eObser vati
onsont heFeel i
ngoft heBeaut i
ful andSubl ime; [77]hewassecondt o
MosesMendel ssohni naBer linAcademypr i
zecompet i
tionwi thhi sI nqui r
yConcer ningt he
Distinctnessoft hePr i
nciplesofNat ur al Theol ogyandMor ali
ty( oftenr eferredt oas" ThePr ize
Essay ").In1766Kantwr oteDr eamsofaSpi ri
t-Seerwhi chdeal twi tht hewr iti
ngsofEmanuel
Swedenbor g.Theexacti nfluenceofSwedenbor gonKant ,aswel last heext entofKant '
sbel ief
i
nmy sticism accor dingt oDr eamsofaSpi rit
-Seer ,remai ncont rov ersi al.
[17]On31Mar ch1770,
aged45, Kantwasf inall
yappoi ntedFul l ProfessorofLogi candMet aphy si
cs( Pr ofessor
Ordinar iusderLogi cundMet aphy si
c)att heUni versityofKöni gsber g.I ndef enseoft his
appoi ntment ,Kantwr otehi si naugur aldi sser t
at i
on( Inaugur al
-Di sser tat i
on)DeMundi Sensi bili
s
atqueI nt elli
gibil
isFor maetPr incipii
s( Ont heFor m andPr inciplesoft heSensi bleandt he
Intell
igibleWor l
d).[
1]Thi swor ksawt heemer genceofsev eral cent r
al themesofhi smat ur e
wor k,includi ngt hedi sti
nctionbet weent hef acultiesofi ntell
ect ual thoughtandsensi ble
recept i
v it
y .Tomi sst hi
sdi stinct i
onwoul dmeant ocommi ttheer rorofsubr eption, and, ashe
say sint hel astchapt eroft hedi ssertation, onlyinav oidingt hiser rordoesmet aphy sicsf lourish.

Thei ssuet hatv exedKantwascent r

al towhat20t h-centuryscholarscalled"thephilosophyof
mi nd".Thef lower ingoft henat uralsci enceshadl edt oanunder standingofhowdat ar eaches
thebr ai
n.Sunl ightf all
ingonanobj ecti sref l
ectedfrom it
ssur faceinawayt hatmapst he
sur f
acef eatures( color ,
text
ur e,etc.).Ther efl
ectedlightreachest hehumaney e,passest hrough
thecor nea, i
sf ocusedbyt hel ensont ot her eti
nawher eitformsani magesi mil
artot hatf or
med
byl i
ghtpassi ngt hr oughapi nhol eintoacamer aobscura.Ther etinalcel
lssendi mpul ses
throught heopt i
cner v eandthent heyf orm amappi ngi nthebr ainofthev i
sualfeaturesoft he
object.Thei nteriormappi ngisnott heext eri
orobject,andourbel i
efthatthereisameani ngful
relati
onshipbet weent heobjectandt hemappi ngint hebraindependsonachai nofr easoning
thatisnotf ullygr ounded.Butt heuncer t
aintyarousedbyt heseconsiderations,byopt ical
i
llusions,mi spercept ions,delusions, etc.,arenott heendoft hepr obl
ems.

Kantsawt hatthemi ndcouldnotfunctionasanempt ycontainerthatsimplyreceivesdataf r

om
outside.Somet hingmustbegi v
ingor dertot heincomingdat a.Imagesofext ernalobjectsmust
bekepti nthesamesequencei nwhi cht heywer ereceived.Thisorderi
ngoccur sthrought he
mind'sintuit
ionoft i
me.Thesameconsi derati
onsappl ytothemi nd'sfunct
ionofconst it
uting
spacef ororderingmappingsofv i
sual andt acti
lesignalsarri
vingviathealr
eadydescr ibed
chainsofphy sicalcausat
ion.
I
tisoftenclaimedt hatKantwasal at
edev eloper,t
hatheonlybecameani mportantphilosopher
i
nhismi d-
50saf terreject
inghi
searli
erviews.Whi l
eiti
struethatKantwrotehisgreatestwor ks
rel
ati
velyl
ateinli
f e,t
hereisatendencytounder esti
matethevalueofhi
sear l
i
erwor ks.Recent
Kantscholarshi
phasdev otedmoreattenti
ont othese"pr
e-cr
it
ical
"wri
ti
ngsandhasr ecognized
adegreeofcont i
nui t
ywi t
hhismaturewor k.
[