Kant's Philosophy: Metaphysics, Ethics, and Enlightenment

Critique of Pure Reason

Distinguishes two things: the theoretical use and the practical use of reason (metaphysics and ethics). When called pure reason, it refers to reason that is not mixed with anything empirical, which is a priori. Regarding the possibility of metaphysics as a science, Kant stated: "I had to suppress the knowledge to make room for faith."

The conclusion of Kant's metaphysics is that he is agnostic, but he supports the postulates of practical reason: God, Freedom, and Immortality.

Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals

This work focuses on ethics, but above all, the triple formulation of the categorical imperative:

1. "Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law."
2. "Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end."
3. "Therefore, every rational being must so act as if he were through his maxim always a legislating member in the universal kingdom of ends." This means that we must live according to nature (reason).

What is Enlightenment?

This work presents Kant's ideas about what enlightenment means and proposes a moral and political project that is open to progress.

Enlightenment is the human being's emergence from his self-incurred immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one's own understanding without the guidance of another. Enlightenment requires free thought, and religious practice should be disseminated in public life without fear.

Relationship with Other Philosophers

Kant was strongly influenced by:

Empiricism

• Hume led him to reject the claims of the "dogmatic philosophy" of rationalism (he "awakened from dogmatic slumber").
• Experience is not universal and necessary (indeed, experience can only yield particular and contingent judgments, which Kant called synthetic a posteriori).
• Knowledge can refer only to what is given to the senses; what is beyond the senses is unknowable. This thesis leads to the claim that metaphysics is not possible as a science (though Kant argues that the moral world opens the door to man's relationship with the metaphysical).