Immanuel Kant: Metaphysics and the Limits of Reason

Reason tends to understand something unconditioned. The illegitimate leap is the illusion of pure reason; here, we construct the illusion of metaphysics. Kant shows that metaphysics is a set of illusions. He demonstrates that the concept of the soul cannot be scientific knowledge because it is constructed by leaving out time. His constructions also reject the metaphysics of the universe and natural theology, according to Wolff's metaphysical division, discovering that all arguments intended to prove the existence of God scientifically are false.

The Transcendental Dialectic and the Noumenal World

The Transcendental Dialectic points beyond the desire to know experience. These three total syntheses cannot be experienced and do not belong to the phenomenal world. Of the noumenal world, we know nothing; for something to constitute an object of knowledge, we need to start with sensitivity to explain a priori forms.

Kant’s Perspective on God and Faith

By denying Kant's metaphysics, one does not deny the existence of metaphysical reality. Kant believes there is another activity that is not confined to rational knowledge. Kant is not an atheist who denies the existence of God; by contrast, he is calm when finding God through paths other than science. He stated: "God has been given to me, imposed as a postulate that I cannot deny."

The Life of Immanuel Kant

Immanuel Kant was born, lived, and died in Königsberg. His father was a craftsman of the pietistic religion, similar to the school where he studied—a Protestant movement characterized by the importance given to sentiment and the moral life. He studied at the University of Königsberg and worked as a private tutor for several important gentlemen. In 1755, he began teaching at the university. Kant was a respectful man, modest, strong-willed, and a man of regular habits. He never married and did not travel.

The Philosophical Works of Kant

Upon being appointed professor, he published an average of one or two books a year. After that time, he spent ten years without publishing while incubating his philosophy. Starting from 1770, his work is divided into:

• Pre-critical: His writings included world history and the theory of the nature of heaven, where he presented his theory on the formation of the universe from a nebula. Other works from this period have a Wolffian and Leibnizian tone until he encountered a work by Hume, who woke him from his "dogmatic slumber."
• Critical: He published his Critique of Pure Reason and the Prolegomena shortly after. In 1787, he published the Critique of Practical Reason. In 1790, he published the Critique of Judgment.

In his last years, he published studies on history, law, and politics, discussing world peace and the possibility of a universal federation of government. On his tomb, an epitaph appears as a passage from his Critique of Practical Reason.