Philosophy Book
Chapter Twenty Three: Immanuel Kant
Brief Biography of Immanuel Kant: Summary of Ideas, Portrait & Quotes
This webpage contains a brief overview of the recently published
book 'Philosophical Sketches'. Below you will find a short Chapter summary
on Immanuel Kant, the book cover and back page text, links to other book chapters,
and introduction. You can buy this book online at our Cafepress Philosophy
Book Shop (Book Details: 90 pages, 30 full page portraits, 8.5 inches by
11 inches, $19.50 USD)
Hope you find it interesting,
Geoff Haselhurst & Karene Jade Howie
Chapter
Twenty Three: Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher and scientist (astrophysics,
mathematics, geography, anthropology) from Prussia, generally regarded as one
of Europe's most influential thinkers and the last major philosopher of the
Enlightenment. Kant defined the Enlightenment, in his prize-winning essay What
is Enlightenment?, as an age shaped by the motto, "Dare to know".
This involved thinking autonomously, free of the dictates of external authority.
Kant had a decisive impact on the Romantic and Idealist philosophies of the
19th century. His work has also been a starting point for 20th century philosophers.
The two interconnected foundations of what Kant called his "critical philosophy",
of the "Copernican revolution" he claimed to have wrought in philosophy,
were his epistemology (or theory of knowledge) of transcendental idealism and
his moral philosophy of the autonomy of reason. These placed the active, rational
human subject at the center of the cognitive and moral worlds respectively.
With regard to knowledge, Kant argued that the rational order of the world
as known by science could never be accounted for merely by the fortuitous accumulation
of sense perceptions. ... (see book for more)
If we take away the subject (Humans), or even only the subjective
constitution of our senses in general, then not only the nature and relations
of objects in space and time, but even space and time themselves disappear;
and that these, as appearances, cannot exist in themselves, but only in us.
What may be the nature of objects considered as things in themselves and without
reference to the receptivity of our sensibility is quite unknown to us. … not
only are the raindrops mere appearances, but even their circular form, nay,
the space itself through which they fall, is nothing in itself, but both are
mere modifications or fundamental dispositions of our sensible intuition, whilst
the transcendental object remains for us utterly unknown. (Critique of Pure
Reason, Immanuel Kant)
It is the duty of philosophy to destroy the illusions which
had their origin in misconceptions, whatever darling hopes and valued expectations
may
be ruined
by its explanations. My chief aim in this work has been completeness; and
I make bold to say, that there is not a single metaphysical problem that does
not find its solution, or at least the key to its solution, here. Pure reason
is a perfect unity. (Immanuel Kant)
A lively and concise journey through the central
ideas of thirty famous philosophers. From ancient Indian, Greek and Chinese
Philosophy to modern Western Philosophy, this book explores the changing foundations
of human knowledge and their effect on how we think and live.
Includes full page portraits, brief biographies and selected quotes from some
of the greatest minds of human history on the universal subjects of Truth,
Reality, Nature, Cosmos, Wisdom, Morality, Mind, Education, Politics, Art,
Religion & God.
Written for the lay person, while remaining true to the original ideas, this
is an engaging account of the Metaphysical foundations of Philosophy that is
both illuminating and thought provoking. (Cover Photograph: Plato & Aristotle
- The School of Athens by Raphael)
Philosophy Book
Philosophical Sketches: Chapter Headings & Content Summary
Publisher / Online Bookstore Details
Space
and Motion Publications
Online print on demand publishers of books on;
Philosophy, Physics, Metaphysics, Truth, Reality, Evolution, Ecology, Nature,
Education, Politics, Fine Art, Erotic Art, Nature, Cosmos, Wisdom, Morality,
Mind, Religion & God.
http://www.spaceandmotion.com/books/online-book-publishing.htm
Related Pages: Immanuel Kant
We also have a nice philosophy web page on Immanuel Kant;
http://www.spaceandmotion.com/Philosophy-Immanuel-Kant-Philosopher.htm
RSS
"When
forced to summarize the general theory of relativity in one sentence: Time
and space and gravitation have no separate existence from matter. ... Physical
objects are not in space, but these objects are spatially extended.
In this way the concept 'empty space' loses its meaning. ... The particle
can only appear as a limited region in space in which the field strength or
the energy density are particularly high. ...
