The eighteenth century gave mankind many glorious names. Scholars and rulers, pioneering travelers and artists adorned, cognized and changed our world. Immanuel Kant - one of those thanks to whom this time was called the great century of Enlightenment. Kant's statements, even now, after more than two hundred years, are quoted and cited as an argument. They are often referred to as an undeniable fact or truth in the last resort.
Organized life
Being brought up in a family with a low income, Immanuel Kant followed his motto "Work and order" all his life. The pedantic fulfillment of the rules established by him and the daily routine, restrictions and asceticism have always been present in the life of a scientist. The inhabitants of Koenigsberg accepted this as the ridiculous eccentricities of a genius. They joked, composed jokes, and enthusiastically retold each other another curious incident.
But respect for talent and recognition prevailed. And already the traditional path of Kant’s walk is called the “philosopher’s path”. They cancel theological chants in prison - this interferes with the professor. The overgrown tree is trimmed - the professor is used to another view from the window. Students are not late for lectures and do not allow the presence of them in a "brilliant suit" (disheveled and without a collar) - this distracts the professor.
As a teacher, Kant tried to teach his students and pupils to think, not memorize thoughts. “After all, to use your mind, you must have courage,” Kant said.
Without leaving the boundaries of his native Koenigsberg in real life, the mental life of the great scientist had no boundaries. Unique in its universality, the philosophical system was built by a researcher who did not seek to see the huge world with his own eyes.
Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is an organized life.
This is the statement of Kant, confirmed by his whole life.
Women and children
From his youth, working as a home teacher, Immanuel Kant observed and analyzed the relationship of the sexes, especially the training and education of that time. All this is reflected in Kant's notes and statements.
Differences in the perception of the world and each other between men and women are very accurately noticed. Modern psychology gives this scientific explanation. By reading Kant, you get an intuitive understanding of the problem.
A man is jealous when he loves. A woman - even when she does not love, because fans conquered by other women disappear from the circle of her fans.
Having lived the life of a solitary hermit, defining sex life as “vain petty movements,” Kant, however, did not shy away from women in society. I went to receptions with pleasure and hosted guests. Traditionally, at lunch, the professor gathered up to 10 guests.
How to educate the future generation? Kant devoted enough time to reflection on this subject. Is childhood the happiest time of life? When to reward a child, what to punish, when and what to teach? Parents will now find much useful for themselves in the statements of Immanuel Kant about these problems.
A person can become a person only through education.
"The starry sky above me ..."
Kant's statement about the starry sky is the quintessence of the philosopher's attempts to reconcile the ideal with the material. Kant argued with Newton about the nature of order in the world of celestial bodies, proving the existence of natural laws and denying the divine forces that affect the celestial spheres. Over time, he changed the materialistic approach to the idealistic one under the influence of the teachings of the agnostic Berkeley Hume.
But the breach he had made in his metaphysical approach to cognition of the world did not go unnoticed by contemporaries and gave impetus to researchers of a new generation:
- The evolutionary development of the solar system.
- The trajectories of the planets are not constant.
- The life or existence of celestial bodies is finite.
So you can formulate the main points of Kant's theory. One looks at the sky only to find out if it will rain. Another is trying to discern the beginning of being there.
One, looking into a puddle, sees dirt in it, and the other - stars reflected in it.
About God and Faith
Kant's indifference to religion at the initial stage of his formation as a philosopher is explained by Lutheran education, based on the denial of church rites, moral behavior and knowledge of Scripture.
Analyzing his childhood attitude, Kant defines faith as an addiction and reproaches religion for disrespectfulness to the mind, in limiting self-development and self-improvement of a person. However, it does not openly contradict the requirements of the official religion. But the result of his natural science research, formulated in the famous aphorism “Give me matter and I will build the world out of it” is a daring attempt to level man and God.
Criticizing Thomas Aquinas and denying his proof of the existence of God, Kant unexpectedly formulates his proof of Divine Being. According to Kant, the principles of determinism (cause-effect relationships) are refuted by a person’s freedom of choice. There is something in our world that does not obey the laws of matter, but exists according to moral (spiritual) laws - this is man himself. So, a part of each of us belongs to the non-material world, and a part of this world is in every living one. Man is free - that means God exists, Kant concludes.
There is only one (true) religion, but there can be different kinds of faith.
Life outcomes
Kant returned to philosophy the scale and grandeur of ancient science. He became the founder of ideas and theories that continue to develop in our days. Defined a new approach to the nature of knowledge. He returned to humanity the faith in the power of reason. He claimed supremacy of morality over politics. He formulated the conditions for maintaining peace between states. Reflected on the problems of education and the nature of the beautiful.
Any human knowledge begins with intuition, passes to concepts and ends with an idea.
The statements of the philosopher Kant - witty, aphoristic, deep - can give food for thought to many.