Kant and Marx: Core Philosophical Concepts
I: Kant’s Philosophical Concepts
Dogmatism
Full confidence in reason’s ability to describe absolute truths, opposing skepticism. Immanuel Kant, in his Critique of Pure Reason, uses it pejoratively.
Critical Thinking
Analyzing the limits and possibilities of reason, focusing on the conditions of knowledge validity.
Copernican Revolution
Kant’s new approach to fundamental philosophical questions, shifting focus to the subject’s role in knowledge.
Transcendental
The condition of possibility for knowledge, inherent in the individual’s mental structure.
Phenomenon
The object of knowledge as it appears to us, shaped by our cognitive faculties.
Noumenon
The thing-in-itself, independent of our perception, not an object of sensory knowledge.
Category
A pure concept (e.g., cause, substance) applied to phenomena to understand them.
Regulative Ideas
Pure, non-empirical representations of Reason (soul, world, God), guiding scientific activity but not objects of knowledge.
II: Kant’s Ethics
Categorical Imperative
A universal and necessary moral command, prescribing actions as good unconditionally.
Postulates of Practical Reason
Propositions (freedom, immortality of the soul, God’s existence) admitted through feracional belief, not theoretical proof.
III: Marx’s Philosophical Concepts
Dialectic
The process of societal evolution through contradictions and the struggle of opposites.
Praxis
Human activity transforming reality, consciously and creatively linked to thought.
Alienation
The state of being dispossessed of oneself, typical of the oppressed class in exploitative societies.
Infrastructure
The material base of society (productive forces and relations) determining social structure.
Superstructure
Elements of social life (religion, morality, science, art, law) dependent on the infrastructure.
Relations of Production
Relationships established between people due to production, including technical and social relations.
Productive Forces
Means of production used to obtain goods, including resources, knowledge, and human labor.
Gain
Profit obtained by capitalists from unpaid worker labor.
Value in Use
The utility of an object in satisfying human needs.
Value in Change
The price of objects or activities subject to supply and demand, their value as commodities.