Immanuel Kant: Philosophy

Perhaps the most influential of modern Western philosophers is Immanuel Kant, a philosophical genius who never left his home town of Konigsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia), but whose ideological impact has arguably been felt like no other in the Western World. Evidence of Kantian theory and its effects on the world can be felt in every aspect of modern political thought, directly affecting everything from Marxism and communism to the democratic governments resulting out of social and political change. His systems of ethics and metaphysics have been ground-shaking philosophical pinnacles from which virtually all else began, and is definitely some of the most stimulating philosophy you'll ever read (from a strictly academic and analytical point of view)!

Kant's philosophy is very extensive, covering everything from religion to morality in scope. Perhaps his most famous statement is the fact that the existence of God cannot be proven by rational means and by reason, but must be assumed for moral and social purposes, as well as the fact that there is no conclusive evidence one way or the other. His most influential works involve his critical philosophy, his ethical philosophy, and his belief in the fundamental freedom of th individual. These works can be compared with the likes of Aristotle, Hegel, and Marx as being some of the most involved stuff that can be found!

The groundwork for his critical philosophy, the one dealing most with political theory, is laid down in The Critique of Pure Reason (1781). In it, Kant examines the bases of human knowledge and creates what he called individual epistemology, or study of knowledge at the level of the individual. He first differentiates between the different modes of knowledge, or the way knowledge is interpreted, into analytical and synthetic propositions. In an analytical proposition, the predicate is contained within the subject (in a grammatical sense), an example of which being: "Blue rivers are rivers." The truth in such a propostion is evident, because a reversion of it would lead to self-contradiction (e.g., not all rivers are blue rivers). Such propositions are also "analytic" because truth is discovered by the analysis of the presented concept itself. In a synthetic proposition, truth cannot be arrived at by pure analysis (e.g., "The house is black"). Such propositions are made from experience of the world around the individual making them. There are also empirical and a priori propositions. Empirical propositions are dependent upon sense perception to be made (e.g., "The house is black"). A priori propositions have fundamental validity and are not based on sense perception (e.g., "Four times five equals twenty").

The thesis Kant tries to prove through careful reasoning in this work is that it is possible to make synthetic a priori judgments, ones which are fundamentally valid, yet their validity cannot be arrived at by pure analysis because they are made from worldly experience (the general idea behind 20th century transcendentalism is based on that assessment). This leads to the assertion that objects in the material world are fundamentally unknowable (also in transcendental thinking). From the point of view supported by reason, Kant states, objects in the world are the "raw materials," if you will, for the formation of sensation. The objects themselves really have no proveable existence, because space and time (used to judge objects) are only parts of the mind, intuitions by which perceptions are measured and judged. The number of a priori concepts (termed categories) exist in four groups: quantity (as in plurality, unity, and totality), quality (as in reality, negation, and limitation), relation (as in substance-accident, cause-effect, and reciprocity), and modality (as in possiblity, existence, and necessity). Such intuitions and categories for a priori judgments can be applied for judgment on perception and experience, Kant states, but cannot be applied to abstract ideas (such as freedom or existence) without leading to inconsistencies in the form of contradictory propositions (dubbed antinomies) when both parts, synthetic and a priori, are proved true.

Kant uses this analysis to establish and further his system of ethics, found in Metaphysical Elements of Ethics (1797). He states that reason is the final authority for morality. Actions of any sort must be undertaken from a sense of duty dedicated by reason. Actions must also be performed for expediency or sole disobedience to law or custom cannot be moral. There are two general commands given by reason to lead to action, called imperatives. The hypothetical imperative is one which dictates a specific course of action to reach a specific end. The categorical imperative is one which directs a course of action which must be followed because of its righteousness or necessity, which is the basis of morality. Such an imperative is especially important when looking at the duties of government.

In the Critique of Practical Reason (1788), Kant essentially lays down his belief in the fundamental freedom of the individual. He claims that the individual is the basis for all ethical ideas, and that freedom of the individual is a necessity to cultivate those ideas. The lawlessness of anarchy is not what he means by this; rather, he is specifically referring to the freedoms of self-government (self-action) and of the conscious obedience to the laws of the universe resulting from reason. He states that the welfare of the individual must be regarded as an ends in and of itself, and that man cannot be used inherently as a means. Because of this thinking, Kant supports a teleological view of things, in which everything or action must be analyzed based on the end goal achieved by it. He also believed in the rule of reason, as evidenced in Perpetual Peace (1795), in which he called for a world federation of republican states.