Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) German philosopher. Kant spent his entire life in Ko¨nigsberg (which was then in East Prussia), becoming professor of logic and metaphysics at the University of Ko¨nigsberg in 1770. Apart from his philosophical work, Kant’s life was distinguished by its uneventfulness.
Kant’s ‘critical’ philosophy holds that knowledge is not merely an aggregate of sense impressions; it depends upon the conceptual apparatus of human understanding. His political thought was shaped by the central importance of morality. He believed that the ‘law of reason’ dictates certain categorical imperatives, the most important of which is the obligation to treat others as ‘ends’, and never only as ‘means’. Freedom, for Kant, thus meant more than simply the absence of external constraints upon the individual; it is a moral and rational freedom, the capacity to make moral choices. Kant’s ethical individualism has had considerable impact upon liberal thought. It also helped to inspire the idealistic tradition in international politics, in suggesting that reason and morality combine to dictate that there should be no war and that the future of humankind should be based upon ‘universal and lasting peace’. Kant’s most important works include Critique of Pure Reason (1781), Critique of Practical Reason (1788) and Critique of Judgement (1790).
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