Immanuel Kant

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German writer, teacher and philosopher whose systematic and comprehensive work on ethics and aesthetics inaugurated a new era in the development of philosophical thought and thus greatly influenced all subsequent philosophy, particularly in the various schools of Kantianism and Idealism. His works included "Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason," 1781 and "Critique of Practical Reason," 1788. Kant was the foremost thinker of the Enlightenment and is considered one of the greatest philosophers of all time. The fourth of nine children, but the eldest surviving child, Kant was born in Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). He lived there his entire life. His father, a saddler, was reportedly a descendant of a Scottish immigrant, and his mother was a German woman, uneducated but known for her natural intelligence. His parents were followers of the Pietas branch of the Lutheran Church, and the influence of their pastor helped Kant receive his education. At the age of eight, he began an eight and one-half year period of study at the Pietist school, which marked the beginning of his lifelong love affair with the Latin classics. He enrolled in the University of Königsberg in 1740, undertaking theology studies, but his true attraction was to the disciplines of mathematics and physics. He began reading the works of Sir Isaac Newton, the English physicist, and in 1744, he began his first book on the subject of kinetic forces. The death of Kant’s father in 1746 brought a halt to his studies, and he was forced to earn a living on his own by working as a private tutor. Over the next nine years, three different families employed him. His work paved the way for his introduction to the influential members of society and honed his social graces. He began to travel, although his longest trip was to Arnsdorf, about 60 miles away. With the help of a friend, he took up his studies again in 1755 and obtained his doctorate. Over the next 14 years, he taught at Königsberg, and his reputation brought large numbers of students to the university. He lectured on many subjects including logic, metaphysics, moral philosophy and even on fireworks and fortifications. His style was humorous and vivid, and he used many examples from his reading to enliven his subjects. During this period, he wrote three dissertations, which established his standing as an original philosopher. His most important scientific work was "General Natural History and Theory of the Heavens," 1755, but despite his popularity and success, it was not until 1770 that he was made a professor of logic and metaphysics. While his Inaugural Dissertation of 1770 was composed of many of the elements of his by-now mature philosophy, his professorship began what is called his "critical period." He published virtually nothing for the next 11 years, but beginning in 1781, he wrote his great Critiques. With publication of "Transcendental Dialectic," Kant stated that he had accomplished a Copernican revolution in philosophy, demonstrating it is not the mind that conforms to things but instead things that conform to the mind. Kant, though charged with an attack on metaphysics, believed in the existence of God and in a future life, and he is often described as an ethical Rationalist. His most original and instructive work was probably "The Kritik der Ureteilskraft," 1790, and soon critical philosophy was taught in every important German-speaking university. His unorthodox religious teachings eventually brought him into conflict with the government of Prussia. In 1792, Frederick William II, King of Prussia, forbade Kant to teach or write on religious subjects, an order Kant obeyed until the King died five years later. In 1797, he retired from the university, and the following year, he published a summary of his religious views in "Der Streit der Fakultäten." Kant was a short man, scarcely five feet tall, and he had a deformed chest. He suffered from poor health throughout his life, and because of this, he maintained a strict regimen of walking. Beginning in 1790, his health began to deteriorate, and he was unable to write for more than a few hours each day. He died 2/12/1804, Königsberg, and his tomb was inscribed with the words "The starry heavens above me and the moral law within me" in German. Link to Wikipedia biography