Immanuel Kant: Historical, Cultural, and Philosophical Context
Immanuel Kant
1. Historical Context
The eighteenth century is marked by the Enlightenment (1688-1789). Key facts include:
- End of the Old Regime and the Emergence of Enlightened Despotism: The ideas of freedom arose from the fall of absolute monarchs, leading to enlightened despots. Kant’s thought emerges from this era, acknowledging that despite the Enlightenment, despotism persisted.
- Church-State Conflict: A core Enlightenment idea was the separation of church and state, promoting freedom of thought and policy. This conflict contributed to the French Revolution.
- Enlightened Revolutions: The American and French Revolutions introduced constitutions and declarations of human rights. Kant championed these rights, asserting that man is an end in himself and never a means.
2. Cultural Context
- Appearance of the Enlightenment: Originating in France, England, and Central Europe, it was based on:
– Reason: We are rational beings and should be guided by reason in our behavior.
– Progress: Reason should serve progress. There are two types: technological progress, which improves human life and freedom, and human progress, which fosters human development. Kant focused on the latter.
– Freedom: Freedom in politics, thought, culture, and religion. Kant’s philosophy is driven by the search for human freedom. He posited that freedom entails responsibility.
– Happiness: Kant moved beyond these three terms, recognizing that individual happiness varies.
- Scientific Development: Thanks to the mathematical understanding of natural laws, based on Newtonian science. Kant argued that philosophy is distinct from science. The era also saw the rise of the encyclopedia, compiling all current knowledge.
- Neoclassical Art: A return to classicism, applying reason to art. Kant’s concept of beauty differs from the classical; he found nature sublime, reflecting a romantic trend.
3. Kant’s Philosophical Framework
Kant’s philosophical framework draws from two main currents:
- British Empiricism
- French and German Rationalism
Kant was trained as a rationalist but integrated both theories after studying Hume.
6. Human Being
- Empirical Ethics: Derived a posteriori (from experience).
- Rational Ethics or Metaphysics: Derived a priori (from reason). Kant sought the principles of pure will or transcendental conditions that enable moral behavior, based on the idea that goodwill is the only thing that can be considered good a priori. A good will acts out of duty or in accordance with duty.
Kant argued that actions performed out of duty reflect the a priori principle of the will, a condition a priori for moral behavior. Moral law must be a formal law, commanding the highest respect for reason-given will.
A maxim is an imperative:
- Hypothetical Imperatives: These command actions to achieve a specific end, possessing particular content and being material.
- Categorical Imperatives: These require the performance of duty or compliance with a duty based on freedom.
According to Kant, human beings are ends in themselves, never means. Therefore, human will and moral behavior exist within a kingdom of ends, where the will itself freely and independently makes laws.
Kant affirmed the existence of God and the soul’s immortality as postulates of practical reason. Fulfilling our duty requires infinite time, implying the immortality of the soul.
7. God
Kant believed that God is a noumenon, unknowable through theoretical reason. God appears as a postulate of practical reason, assuring us of the reward for a life of duty. While God cannot be known, rational beliefs about God are possible.
8. Society
Kant’s distinction between theoretical and practical reason highlights a duality in human dimensions: an empirical-sensitive dimension and an ethical-social dimension. In the first, humans are unsociable, capable of moral judgments. In the second, humans are social beings, belonging to a community of individuals within a kingdom of ends.