Immanuel Kant and David Hume: Enlightenment Philosophers
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
Historical, Sociocultural, and Philosophical Context
Immanuel Kant, a significant admirer of both the American and French Revolutions, stands as a pivotal figure in 18th-century philosophy. He championed Enlightenment ideals of tolerance and progress, emphasizing autonomous thinking and the use of reason.
The German Enlightenment (Aufkärung) unfolded within a fragmented Germany, comprised of numerous small states under quasi-feudal rule. Prussia, under Frederick the Great’s economic and military reforms, emerged as a major European power.
Frederick II, known as the “philosopher king,” earned Kant’s admiration as a leading figure of enlightened despotism. He fostered intellectual culture, extending patronage to figures like La Mettrie and Voltaire.
Pietism, a Protestant sect founded by Spener, played a key role in German religious life. This movement stressed personal reflection, the practice of virtue, and engaged with occult writings, such as those of the Swedish Theosophist Swedenborg.
The conservative nature of German society led scholars to avoid social and political discourse. Popular philosophers like Mendelssohn and Lessing focused on educational and aesthetic issues, while figures like Kant dedicated themselves to university teaching. There, Kant initially encountered the dogmatic rationalism of Leibniz and Wolf, which emphasized innate ideas and defended metaphysics. However, Hume’s empiricism, prioritizing experience and questioning metaphysics, profoundly influenced Kant’s thinking. Kant’s philosophy is often described as a synthesis of rationalism and empiricism, asserting that knowledge begins with experience but doesn’t end there.
The Sturm und Drang (Storm and Momentum) pre-Romantic movement, emphasizing passion over reason, also influenced Kant. Represented by Hamann and Herder in philosophy, and by Schiller and Goethe (The Sorrows of Young Werther) in literature, this movement celebrated emotional intensity.
David Hume
Historical, Sociocultural, and Philosophical Context
Following the 1688 revolution, England embarked on a path towards constitutionalism, becoming a model for Enlightenment thinkers. Parliamentarism fostered legislation protecting citizen rights and political, religious, and economic freedoms.
The British Enlightenment, promoting tolerance and reason, resonated with the aristocracy and bourgeoisie, contributing to a new capitalist society shaped by economic liberalism (Adam Smith). While facing the influence of ecclesiastical power, the British Enlightenment encountered fewer religious and political obstacles than its French counterpart.
Newton’s scientific advancements, Locke’s empiricism, and Hume’s revival of Aristotelian thought provided a foundation for challenging religious dogma and championing civil society and reason.
While atheism found proponents in figures like D’Holbach and La Mettrie, deism, the belief in a creator uninvolved in worldly affairs, gained prominence. Deists rejected supernatural phenomena and advocated for widespread education. These ideas circulated within scientific societies and through newspapers and magazines.
The Enlightenment encompassed a broad range of thought, from Newton to Hume, Helvetius, Rousseau, and Kant. These thinkers explored diverse themes—reason, nature, humanity, religion, society, and history—leading to the emergence of new social sciences (anthropology, economics, etc.) and the creation of the Encyclopédie (Diderot and d’Alembert), which aimed to compile all knowledge. Neoclassicism, emphasizing order and rationality, dominated the arts.
Enlightenment thinkers viewed knowledge as a tool for inquiry and action, not as innate ideas. Metaphysics was critically examined, and concepts of virtue and happiness informed a secular morality.