Immanuel
Kant (1724-1804) felt it was essential to preserve religion (Was Christian.) He
was also a professor of philosophy, so he knew something about the past.
Everybody was concerned with “What can we know about the world?” There are two
possibilities: how we sense it, and how we reason it. Certain conditions govern
the mind’s operation which influence the way we experience the world, certain
conditions in the human mind contribute to our conception of the world. We can
not “take off” the glasses of time&space. These are our modes of
perception, not actual physical attributes, necessarily.
The
mind according to Kant conforms to things, but things also conform to the mind.
Human reason sees everything as cause&effect. “And things as they appear to
us” – ‘the thing in itself’ vs. ‘the thing for me.’ We can say how things will be perceived by the human mind. material knowledge – external conditions perceived through
senses.
form
of knowledge – through time, space and causality.
The
mind’s glasses set limits on what we can know. So, we can’t answer the big
question! Attribute of human reason to ask, “Where do we come from?” But it is
impossible for us to know since we are one tiny part of the universe. On these
questions, Kant says there will always be two opposing views. We can’t prove
God. But humans should have faith. It’s essential to believe in the immortal
soul, God and free will. (These are practical postulates to accept w/o proof.)
We can never understand ourselves or the universe completely. Ethics – believed
the difference between right and wrong was inherent in human reason. Moral law
– since we have reason to distinguish between right and wrong before we are
born, acting morally is a categorical imperative. Universal Law of Nature – Do
as you’d want everyone else to do in your situation. Treat people not just as
means, but as an end also. We can’t prove what our conscience tells us, but we
do indeed know it. Only when you do something out of duty can it be a moral
action. The consequence of an action does not determine whether it was right or
not. Animals don’t have freedom to follow moral law. We have no freedom if we
only listen to our senses. Obey universal reason also – free Kant’s law of
morals is conscience.
