The Life and Works

of

Immanuel KantAn ebook by Piero Gacayan

“Live your life as though your every act were to become a universal law”

-Immanuel Kant

Who is Immanuel Kant?

Immanuel Kant was born on April 22, 1794 in Königsberg, which is actually

named Kaliningrad in modern-day Russia. Kant was the fourth child of nine children

of the family of Johann Georg and Anna Regina Kant. His family was very modest as

they did not have much money, his father being a saddlemaker. His family was strictly

religious and he even attended a Pietist school called Collegium Fridericianum from

ages eight to fifteen. During his time there, he was strongly against the reliance on

religion and even loathed his Pietist schooling and only looked forward to Latin

classics every time. When he got more mature however, he started taking interest in

reason and autonomy, instead of caring much about emotion and grace. Kant was not

really that much into soul-searching or was not even that religious as well.

Early Life and Youth

Later on in life, Kant went to the University of Königsberg and took interest in classics and

philosophy. He was able to be exposed to plenty of philosophers and teachings. After college, he

spent six years being a private tutor to children outside his hometown due to both his parents dying

he was not able to afford an academic career. He then spent four decades teaching philosophy in

Albertina. He later started writing after he began working as a private tutor, his first written work

being Universal Natural HIstory and Theory of the Heavens.

During his wild years, he enjoyed drinking a lot of wine, playing pool, and wearing beautiful

colorful clothes. He was able to balance being both a metaphysician and a partygoer. He also had a

really good sense of humor, while having plenty of women in his life but never seemed to marry

anyone in the end. Some books even claim that he once drank too much red wine he lost his way

home. A biography stated that when Kant was younger, he would often go to many parties and

drank way too much. Immanuel Kant was said to not be much of a handsome man, but rather his

ability to socialize was able to bring him to many parties, in fact too many.

Beliefs and Philosophy

Kant worked on how humans can be good and kind outside the blandishments of religion. However, he was also known to be

a pessimist about human character and believed that humans are by nature prone to corruption. This sort of awareness led him to

creating his life’s work, the desire to replace religious authority to authority of reason instead. Kant was able to stretch the idea to

political standards, as the central duty of the government is believed to ensure liberty. It should not be confused with libertarian

terms; the ability of doing whatever we want. People are only free when we are our best selves and are slaves only if we are trapped

in our own passions or others. Freedom is not the absence of government, but is actually a society where it helps everyone to become

more reasonable.

Kant was able to stretch the idea to political standards, as the central duty of the government i believed to ensure liberty. It

should not be confused with libertarian terms; the ability of doing whatever we want. People are only free when we are our best

selves and are slaves only if we’re trapped in our own passions or others. Freedom is not the absence of government, but is actually

a society where it helps everyone to become more reasonable.

The Categorical Imperative: Kant’s Moral PhilosophyThe Categorical Imperative is a universal law that every individual would have to commit to in order to have an

overall good and fulfilling world. The Categorical Imperative is an unconditional principle that every person must follow despite any

natural desires or inclinations that we have, whether it would be our own deep desires or temptations. The Categorical Imperative

has over three main categories:

❖ “I ought to never act except in such a way that I could also will that my maxim should become a universal law”

➢ This was often misunderstood, as people would think that you should only do something in the means for it to be good

for everyone. Instead, you should only act if it makes sense for you to will everybody to act in the same way.

❖ “Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or the person of another, always has an end, and

simply as a means.”

➢ This calls us to respect other people as beings of moral worth, whether it would be someone of high power to a

homeless man. Never force people to help you in the means to meet your ends, as they have their own.

❖ “Act as though through your maxims you could become a legislator of universal laws”

➢ This formulation is the ultimate responsibility of being a moral being. This reminds us that we are always constantly

setting examples to other people, ultimately leading to contributing to what is normal human behavior. Moral law will

and will always come from us as humans.

❖ This moral philosophy only depends on free will, as in the end it will all depend on us.

Other Works and Beliefs

Kant also wrote a piece all about beauty and art in “The Critique of

Judgement”, he stated that art and beauty are the “cornerstones” of his entire

philosophy. Kant believed that life is a struggle between our duty and pleasure. He

also believed that art was known to be an extension of philosophy, as art is able to

embody the most important ethical ideas.

Kant’s books are written very densely and highly intellectual, however these

books created a bigger project Kant planned. He used these books to understand how

our better selves are able to be strengthened to be able to defeat our weaknesses. He

wanted to guide people into doing something religions all tried to do but failed; to be

good.