Immanuel Kant was born on April 22, 1724 in Konigsberg, Prussia. His parents were Johann Georg Kant and Regina Dorothea Reuter. His father was a German harness maker, and his mother was a well educated women, and the daughter of a harness maker. Both his parents believed in pietism. Immanuel was the fourth child born out of 9. He would always stay close to his hometown, and it is said that he never went anywhere farther than 10 miles of where he lived. At the age of 8, Immanuel entered in a Pietist school. It was known as a Latin school, and there Immanuel grew love for Latin classics. After Immanuel learned Hebrew, he changed his name from Immanuel to Emanuel. He attended Collegium Fredericianum, and later on enrolled at the University of Konigsberg at the age of 16. He began to find interests in philosophy and studied the philosophy of both Gottfried Leibniz and Christian Wolff. HIs favorite teacher was Martin Knutzen for introducing those two philosophers to him. After Kant finished college, he became a private tutor for young children. He maintained a tutor for about 6 years. Immanuel's death occurred on February 12, 1804 due to poor health.
Philosophy:
Immanuel Kant was known as an intelligent professor when it came to philosophy. He believed that sensing and reason played major roles in the world. Kant agreed with several different philosophers and their beliefs such as Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Berkley, and Hume. Kant would search for his own philosophical answers as well as he knew most answers in philosophy. What he tried to achieve in philosophy was to differ between rationalist and empiricist. Rationalism involved human reason and empiricism involved human experience. As Kant was in philosophy he worked well with Hume. Kant tried to answer a question of Hume's about causality. Overall, Immanuel contributed in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics.
Quotes:
- "In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so."
- "Two things awe me most, the starry sky above me and the moral law within me."
- "Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life."
- "There can be no doubt that all our knowledge begins with experience."
- "Live your life as though your every act were to become a universal law."
- "All our knowledge begins with senses, turns into understandings, and ends with reason. There is nothing higher than reason."
Famous Works:
Some famous works by Kant were Critique of Pure Reason, Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics, Groundwork for the Metaphysic of Morals, Critique of Practical Reason, Critique of Judgment where he would critique writings.