But only he who, himself enlightened, is not afraid of shadows.
immanuel Kantquotes
1724 - 1804
The great German-Philosopher, Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) initiated a revolution in philosophical thought with his famous work, Critique of Pure Reason. Arguably one of the greatest philosophers of all time, Kant not only influenced the thinkers of the Enlightenment, but all subsequent philosophies in Western thought as well.
Kant earned his doctorate in Philosophy from the University of Konigsberg. He was denied professorship there again and again, but refused to accept prestigious teaching offers elsewhere because he was content with his simple life in the small city. He worked as a lecturer and tutor for 15 years until he became a full professor and spent the rest of his career teaching metaphysics and logic.
Other notable works include his Critique of Practical Reason and his Critique of Judgment.
While Kant published hundreds of papers and critiques over his lifetime, his strongest contribution to philosophy was his focus on ethics and the study of moral actions. He synthesized two opposing theories, rationalism and empiricism, and found a middle ground of thought between them.
He argued for a radical idea that, as individuals, our minds organize our experiences to make sense of how the world works. He believed that reason could not prove or disprove theories of God, freedom or immortality since those ideas exist beyond the scope of human experience. But he held they were good and rational beliefs since they contributed to an orderly and moral society.
Committed to his work, Kant never married, and despite an embittering loss of memory, he continued to write until his dying day.
The busier we are, the more acutely we feel that we live, the more conscious we are of life.
Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made.
All our knowledge begins with the senses, proceeds then to the understanding, and ends with reason. There is nothing higher than reason.
Seek not the favor of the multitude; it is seldom got by honest and lawful means. But seek the testimony of few; and number not voices, but weigh them.
Whereas the beautiful is limited, the sublime is limitless, so that the mind in the presence of the sublime, attempting to imagine what it cannot, has pain in the failure but pleasure in contemplating the immensity of the attempt.
I had to deny knowledge in order to make room for faith.
For peace to reign on Earth, humans must evolve into new beings who have learned to see the whole first.
Enlightenment is man’s release from his self-incurred tutelage. Tutelage is man’s inability to make use of his understanding without direction from another. Self-incurred is this tutelage when its cause lies not in lack of reason but in lack of resolution and courage to use it without direction from another. Sapere aude! ‘Have courage to use your own reason!’- that is the motto of enlightenment.
courage / Enlightenment / reason / Tutelage
Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life.