Immanuel, Kant (1724-1804) Essay examples -- essays research papers

Immanuel Kant was born in 1724 in the East Prussian town of Knigsberg and lived at that place practically all his life. He came from a deeply religious Lutheran family, and his own religious convictions formed a signifi washbasint backcloth to his philosophy. Like Berkeley, he felt it was essential to preserve the foundations of Christian belief.Kant became professor of Logic and Metaphysics at the University of Knigsberg in 1770 and taught thither for roughly of his life. He was also greatly interested in science and print whole shebang on astronomy and geophysics.His three most significant works were published later in life. The Critique of Pure Reason came out in 1781, followed in 1788 by the Critique of Practical Reason and in 1790 by the Critique of Judgment. The Critique of Pure Reason is one of the most big works in the whole of philosophy. Unfortunately it is also one of the most unreadable - Kant himself described it as dry and obscure.Kant had generally been an out going and well-disposed man but towards the end of his life his mental faculties and his sight deteriorated badly. He died a shadow of his former self, aged 80. One of his most quoted sayings is work on his gravestone in Knigsberg "Two things fill my caput with ever-increasing wonder and awe, the more often and the more intensely the reflection dwells on them the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me".IDEASKant believed that there are clear limits to what we can hit the hay. You could perhaps say that the minds "glasses" sit these limits.The philosophers before Kant had discussed the really "big" questions - for instance, whether man has an immortal soul, whether there is a God, whether personality consists of tiny indivisible particles, and whether the universe is finite or infinite. Kant believed there was no certain knowledge to be obtained on these questions. In such great philosophical questions, he thought that reason operates beyon d the limits of what we worldly concern can comprehend. At the same time there is in our nature a basic desire to pose these questions. When, for example, we ask whether the universe has invariably existed, we are asking about a totality of which we ourselves are a tiny part. We can therefore never completely know this totality. correspond to Kant there are two elements that contribute to our knowledge of the world - sensory perception and re... ...etimes you readiness only be kind and helpful to others because you know it pays off. It could be a way of becoming popular. But if this is your only motor you are not acting out of respect for moral law. You might be acting in accordance with moral law - and that could be fair enough - but if it is to be a moral action, you essential have conquered yourself. Only when you do something purely out of barter can it be called a moral action. Kants ethics is therefore sometimes called business ethics.Kant also advocated the establish ment of a "league of nations". In his treatise Perpetual Peace, he wrote that all countries should unite in order to assure peaceful coexistence amongst nations. He believed that mans "practical reason" would force the nations to emerge from the wild call down of nature which creates wars, and make a contract to keep the peace. Kant recognised that this would inquire time to achieve but he saw it as our duty to work for the universal and lasting securing of peace. About 125 years later the appearance of Kants treatise in 1795, the League of Nations was founded, after the First World War. by and by the Second World War it was replaced by the United Nations.