Kant

=__The Life and Philosophy of Immanuel Kant Definition of Kant __ Kant (kānt, känt) German philosopher whose synthesis of rationalism and empiricism, in which he argued that reason is the means by which the phenomena of experience are translated into understanding, marks the beginning of idealism. His classic works include //Critique of Pure Reason// (1781) and //Critique of Practical Reason// (1788), in which he put forward a system of ethics based on the categorical imperative. (dictionary.reference.com)=

=__His Life and Early Works __=  Immanuel Kant was born in the East Prussian City of Konigsburg in 1724. He went to the university there and then remained there to tutor for 40 years. It is said that Kant never traveled 50 miles from his home his entire life. Immanuel was very close to his mother, father, and his siblings. Of his parents he said this:

"My two parents (from the class of tradesmen) were perfectly honest, morally decent, and orderly. They did not leave me a fortune (but neither did they leave me any debts). Moreover, they gave me an education that could not have been better when considered from the moral point of view. Every time I think of this I am touched by feelings of the highest gratitude". (philosophypages.com/ph/kant)

Immanuel produced many books throughout his philosophical career. One of the works includes the very famous Critique of Pure Reason, which Kant explains the groundwork of his moral philosophy.([])

= __His Philosophy__ ​ =

Immanuel Kant was one of the last theorists during the Enlightenment Era, His ethical theory paved the way for many other philosophers ethical supositions. His ethical idea was that if the course of action someone plans to take can be willed upon everyone, then it is an ethical choice. Unlike Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, and many other Greek philosophers, Kant did not believe that virtue could be used as a measurement in moral reasoning. Kants moral philosophy began by trying to create a compromise between **rationalistic** thinkers and **empiricisic** thinkers. Unfortunatly for Kant empiriciscist and rationalist thinkers had conflict with each other based on Kants description of them. Kant realized these flaws and came up with the concept know as the __categorical imperative.__ Categorical imperatives are principles that are intrinsically valid; they are good in and of themselves; they must be obeyed in all situations and circumstances if our behavior is to observe the moral law. Kant believed that from the categorical imperative that every moral obligation is generated and every moral obligation can be tested.He believed that the moral law is a rule of reason itself, and is not based on facts about the world, such as what would make us happy, but to act upon the moral law which has no other motive than worthiness of being happy. ("www.associatedcontent.com")

=Empiricism (em⋅pir⋅i⋅cism) =  [ em- **pir** - //uh// -siz-// uh //m ] - the doctrine that reason alone is a source of knowledge and is independent of experience. =Rationalism=

(ra⋅tion⋅al⋅ism)
 - the doctrine that reason alone is a source of knowledge and is independent of experience.

==Categorical Imperative - //Ethics//. the rule of Immanuel Kant that one must do only what one can will that all others should do under similar circumstances. ==



("dictionary.reference.com") **__Quiz! []

Works Cited__** - wikipedia.org/wiki/Immanuel_Kant_Moral_philosophy - philosophypages.com/ph/kant - associatedcontent.com - dictionary.reference.com