Self-Notes

World History

Enlightenment: Philosophers and thinkers (Part-I)

Immanuel Kant

About Kant

 Immanuel Kant is a philosopher who tried to work out how

human beings could be good and kind – outside of the
exhortations and blandishments of traditional religion.

 He was born in 1724 in the Baltic city of Königsberg, which at

that time was part of Prussia, and now belongs to Russia
(renamed Kaliningrad).

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His family were deeply religious and very strict. Later in life,
Kant did not have any conventional religious belief, but he was
acutely aware of how much religion had contributed to his
parents’ ability to cope with all the hardships of their existence
– and how useful religion could be in fostering social cohesion
and community.
 He is considered as a stalwart figure in the era of Enlightenment
who gave new dimensions to the emerging stream of ideas all
across Europe.
Enlightenment is man's release
from his self-incurred
immaturity. Immaturity is
Contributions of Kant man's inability to make use of
his understanding without
What is Enlightenment? direction from another. This
immaturity is self-imposed
 In an essay called What is Enlightenment (published in 1784), when its cause lies not in lack
of reason but in lack of
he presents his own interpretation of the emergent movement. resolution and courage to use it
 Elaborating on the principle “Sapere Aude”, "Have courage to without direction from another.
use your own understanding!”, he said Enlightenment would
lead to
o A stage when mankind individually and collectively
Sapere aude!
begins to think for themselves "Have courage to use your own
o Liberation of the human consciousness from an reason!"
immature state of ignorance and error and a state where
a human is not restricted by thoughts of previous
generations or thoughts of others.
o Development of one’s own thoughts without others
guidance

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 Revolution and Enlightenment
 Revolution in his view - change of political setup by overthrow
of old autocratic, non - representative absolutism.
 But it doesn’t necessarily lead to new thought process and
outlook.
 Sometimes with revolution, new prejudices, just like the old
ones they replace, will serve as a leash for the great unthinking
mass.

Kant and Reason

 In his work ‘Critique of Pure Reason’ (1781), he tried to
examine the limit and scope of pure reason.
 Reason based conscience or intuition.
o Redefined reason in association with metaphysics and
represented a philosophical reaction against unchallenged
supremacy of reasoning in the age of enlightenment.
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Kant’s and Anti-Enlightenment

 Kant wrote the Critique toward the end of the Enlightenment,
which was then in a state of crisis.

The Enlightenment was a reaction to the rise and successes of

modern science in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The spectacular achievements of Newton in particular
engendered widespread confidence and optimism about the
power of human reason to control nature and to improve human
life. One effect of this new confidence in reason was that
traditional authorities were increasingly questioned.

 He represented the ‘German enlightenment mistrust of

empiricism’ in contravention to the ‘French enlightenment
based on rationality and empiricism’
 His emphasis on intuition carried an element of ‘romanticism’
 He questioned whether reason alone can enable humans to
understand and perceive the world. Perceptions and
observations can’t truly reveal universal truths of the world.
 He argues that human understanding is the source of the
general laws of nature that structure all our experience

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 Kant’s Morality and Categorical Imperative
 Kant’s moral philosophy is also based on the idea of autonomy.
 Freedom, for Kant, is thus not the “freedom” to follow one’s
inclinations. Instead, freedom implies morality, and morality
implies freedom.
 Morality of an action is determined primarily by the motivation
behind the action.
 He holds that there is a single fundamental principle of morality,
on which all specific moral duties are based.
 This moral law (as it is manifested to us) is the categorical
imperative.
 Categorical Imperative represents the supreme moral principle of
duty to be followed all the time, in every circumstances. It is
universal and unconditional or absolute for all agents.
 Gandhian non - violence, righteousness are examples of this.
 To establish a litmus test for categorical imperative he said, always
act in such a way that you would be willing for it to become a
general law that everyone else should do the same in the same
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situation.

Kant’s Morality and Politics

 Kant is critical of political thinkers, such as Machiavelli, who
believe that amoral or immoral means are permissible in politics.
 Still, although Kant argues that morality is obligatory in politics, he
does not believe that people’s actual political behaviour is
controlled by duty.
 Kant does not argue merely that individuals enter the state or
social contract for prudential reasons, because their interests are
best served by the state, but also that we have an obligation to
respect human freedom, and this requires us to create a
Rechtsstaat if one does not already exist etc.

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