Born in Konigsburg,
Prussia, on the 22nd of April, 1724, Immanuel
Kant is one of those rare thinkers that have contributed
to one’s view of the world. It is through
his theories and concepts that people have an
enhanced view of the world and all matter within
it.
Kant received his education from his native university
in Konigsburg; he earned himself a degree in 1755,
and soon after, began delivering his thoughts
on metaphysics and natural philosophy. Mathematics
was another area of his interest as it was related
to logic, which happened to be perhaps his main
area of focus.
In 1762, Kant was fortunate enough to be offered
a prominent place as the head of poetry. However,
he declined this position, and in 1770 he earned
himself a position as professor of logic and metaphysics.
From this period on he established most of his
views, and remained an important thinker till
his death in 1804 on the 12th of February. The
remaining thirty years of his life was entirely
devoted to his professorship and he remained a
bachelor all his life. These thirty years were
however, very productive, as he would have wanted
them to be so. This is because of the fact that
Kant was a strong believer in human progress.
In addition to this belief, Kant also held views
that eye-opening, such as his view of the metaphysical
world.
According to Kant, one cannot really know things
in its essence. This is because people see objects
in the world around them through their perceptions
and try to make sense of them. However, in this
context, Kant manages to make sense of change
in the world around him too.
According to “Principle of Permanence of
Substance,” (Mattey, 2000) Kant emphasizes
on the existence of substance in its true form.
Through human perception, individuals believe
that they see substances transforming from one
form to another. Kant explains on the basis of
causality, and asserts that permanent substances
with transitory accidents cause them to appear
differently to humans (Mattey, 2000). This is
because of perception, and really knowing the
essence of substances in the world around. The
transitory accidents explained by Kant are ones
that are in relation to time. This is because
things perhaps do not remain the same through
time, and if tine were to stand still substances
would not change, even in one’s perception.
Through time, Kant says that substances are alterable
if they have accidents that are incompatible.
The result of a lawful change is called an effect,
and this results only through subsequent stages.
In order for an effect to be lawful, a transition
must be a necessary consequence of the initial
state of the substance (Kant Lexicon, 2003).
Kant undoubtedly has developed an understanding
of the world through his own individual perspective.
He has managed to formulate a list of categories
in accordance with which he is able to define
almost everything thing in the natural world.
The twelve categories of Kant have in fact been
developed from Kant’s logical system, which
consists of
1. analytic or synthetic judgments and
2. a priori or a posteriori judgments. These judgments
are further divided into the following three:
1. analytic a priori,
2. synthetic a posteriori, and
3. synthetic a priori.
On the basis of applying causality to perception,
Kant has produced a total of twelve categories
that encompass almost all that human beings know
of in this world. They are as follows:
1. Categories of quantity: Unity, Plurality, Totality
2. Categories of quality: Reality, Negation, Limitation
3. Categories of relation: Substance and Accident,
Causality and Dependence, Community or Interaction
4. Categories of modality: Possibility--Impossibility,
Existence--Non-existence,Necessity--Contingency
In accordance with these categories, Kant's
main concern is the synthetic a priori principles.
It is these that are the basis of human knowledge
and understanding, particularly knowledge about
what humans ought to do. This refers to Kant’s
views on ethical behavior, and how and what one
should do in order to live a good life. He creates
a general rule (a maxim), and argues that an individual’s
maxim is moral if it conforms to the moral law,
or the "categorical imperative." This
moral law is derived as; the maxim of one’s
action, and therefore the action performed in
accordance with it, is moral only if one can will
that it should become a universal law.
In Kant’s own words, “Act in such
a way that you treat humanity both in your own
person and in the person of all others, never
as a means only but always equally as an end”
(Kant, 1964, p.70). These are views that might
well be in sync with philosophical views Socrates
and Plato, given that they explicitly urged acting
in such a way that society would not be affected
by an individual’s actions. Such action
will ensure the freedom of all human beings because
they see and treat others as reflections of themselves.
Having said this, it must be asserted that the
adhering to the categorical imperative is objective,
and the idea of freedom of humans is mandatory
because of a sense of duty. However, this is subject
to being compatible with the law of causality.
This is because man is causally determined but
he is also free. Having said this, it must also
be asserted that man does not even know what his
own freedom, even though he knows he is free.
Emerging from this understanding, it must be added
that the nature of moral freedom remains a mystery.
Another view of Kant’s morality holds that
man is not in need of a superior being in order
to make sure that he (man) takes the right steps.
This is also something that might be likened to
Plato’s views. According to Plato, ethics
is more important to human living. Hence, one
may not need religion in order to lead a good
life, as ethics through human reason should be
enough. Man does not need any being for him to
recognize his duty. However, morality tends to
cause assumption of how virtue is in some way
correlated with happiness. This implies the Idea
of a power that correlates them, which means that
faith explains the mysterious consistency lying
between moral freedom and causally determined
nature. On Kant’s part, to have considered
faith in the existence of God, is a far greater
achievement than to have furnished fallacious
proofs of it.
On providing a logical explanation for the existence
of God, Kant argues that universal moral laws
are not simply empirical but are logically necessary.
He asserts that an action which is good does not
only adhere to a moral law but should also be
done for the sake of that moral law (Kant, 1964,
p.58.). Kant asserts this because he believes
that it is futile for individuals to adhere to
moral law simply because they have to; they should
conform to moral law for the sake of it because
such conformity would determine their understanding
of the law, and therefore, also determine that
they act according to their free will.
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