Immanuel Kant and the 18th Century
The 18th Century Context of Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant’s life and work unfolded during the 18th century, a period of significant economic recovery and population growth, particularly in the latter half. These changes impacted all aspects of European society—political, economic, and social.
Economic Transformations
Economically, Europe experienced a series of major shifts. While agriculture remained the primary economic activity, England, the Netherlands, and parts of France and Italy underwent an agricultural revolution. In contrast, Eastern Europe (Prussia, Austria, Russia) lagged behind due to the prevalence of feudalism. A population explosion in the second half of the century nearly doubled the European population. This period also witnessed the development of early attempts at a scientific understanding of economics, with the French Physiocrats and English liberals as the two main schools of thought. The Physiocrats believed that land was the basis of wealth and advocated for non-intervention by the state in economic matters. The liberals, notably Adam Smith, emphasized labor as the foundation of the economic system and championed a model based on supply and demand, with minimal state intervention. Towards the end of the century, England experienced the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution, largely driven by James Watt’s invention of the steam engine and its application to production.
Social and Political Structures
Socially, the 18th century saw the continuation of a stratified society with three main estates: the nobility, the clergy, and the third estate. However, this system was facing a crisis that would culminate in the French Revolution of 1789 and its repercussions across Europe. Politically, absolute monarchies dominated much of Europe, with Great Britain’s parliamentary monarchy as a notable exception. In Eastern Europe, where feudalism persisted, a form of government known as enlightened despotism emerged. In the absence of a strong bourgeois class, the government took on the responsibility of modernizing society, as exemplified by Frederick the Great’s Prussia, where Kant wrote many of his works. The American Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the adoption of the US Constitution in 1787, along with English parliamentarism and the French Revolution’s Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, marked the starting points for the modern constitution of society based on liberal democratic systems, gradually replacing the old regime.
Cultural Shifts
Culturally, the Baroque style gave way to Classicism, characterized by the application of Cartesian principles (rationality, simplicity, order) to art. In music, the Baroque continued to mature but transitioned to Classicism by mid-century, with Mozart and Haydn as prominent figures.
The Critique of Pure Reason and Kant’s Critical Period
The text excerpted above is from the preface to the second edition of Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, the foundational work of his critical period. This period, typically dated from his appointment as a professor in 1770, saw Kant move away from the Leibniz-Wolffian system and develop his own philosophical framework. The Critique of Pure Reason, published in 1781 after 11 years of development, explores the possibility and nature of metaphysics. In 18th-century German universities, metaphysics was divided into general ontology (the study of being) and special metaphysics (focused on God, the world, and the soul). While the organization of metaphysical knowledge resided in ontology, the primary interest lay in special metaphysics. However, the state of metaphysics was in question, with disagreement among philosophers and doubts about its scientific validity. Kant’s work aimed to address the possibility of establishing a metaphysical science, which hinged on the human capacity for a priori knowledge, as metaphysics attempts to assess knowledge independent of experience. Thus, the Critique of Pure Reason delves into metaphysics and our ability to establish it as a science.
Structure and Content of the Critique
The book is divided into two main parts: the Transcendental Doctrine of Elements and the Transcendental Doctrine of Method. The first part examines the a priori elements (forms or conditions) of knowledge and is further divided into Transcendental Aesthetic and Transcendental Logic. In Transcendental Aesthetic, Kant investigates the a priori forms of sensibility and demonstrates the possibility of synthetic a priori judgments in mathematics. Transcendental Logic comprises Transcendental Analytic and Transcendental Dialectic. In Analytic, Kant analyzes the pure concepts of understanding (categories) and shows how synthetic a priori judgments are possible in physics. Dialectic explores the natural disposition towards metaphysics and examines whether traditional speculative metaphysics can be a science. The second part, Transcendental Doctrine of Method, proposes a transcendental metaphysics encompassing the entire system of a priori knowledge, instead of speculative metaphysics dealing with transcendent realities beyond experience. The Critique of Pure Reason serves as a propaedeutic to this system. If the system is considered a building, the Doctrine of Elements reviews the materials and functions, while the Doctrine of Method outlines the building plan. Thus, the Critique is essentially an introduction to transcendental philosophy or metaphysics.
Kant’s Legacy
The Critique of Pure Reason revolutionized philosophy, creating a clear distinction between certain scientific knowledge and the uncertain realm of reality itself. Philosophers after Kant have focused on seeking approximations of reality, acknowledging its inherent uncertainty. Kant’s other significant works include: Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics (1783), Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785), Critique of Practical Reason (1788), Critique of Judgment (1790), Religion within the Bounds of Bare Reason (1793), Perpetual Peace (1795), and Metaphysics of Morals (1797).