Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant was an 18th-century German philosopher whose work reshaped Western thought.
His *Critique of Pure Reason* examined the limits of human knowledge, arguing that experience and reason work together to shape understanding.
Kant formulated the categorical imperative—the principle that moral actions must be universalizable.
His name appears in Kantian ethics, neo-Kantian, and the adjective Kantian for ideas following his philosophy.
Independent of experience
- categoriesGroups of related things
- phenomenaObservable facts or events
- noumenaReality independent of observation
- synthetic a prioriNecessary truths that expand knowledge
analytic · cognition · perception · understanding · judgment · intuition · sensibility · schema
Study of existence's nature
- noumenaReality independent of observation
- phenomenaObservable facts or events
- thing-in-itselfReality apart from perception
- transcendentalBeyond ordinary experience
antinomy · cosmology · teleology · soul · God · freedom · immortality · dialectic
Unconditional ethical obligation
- dutyRequired moral task
- good willBenevolent intent toward others
- autonomyIndependent decision-making capacity
- deontologyMorality based on obligations
practical reason · moral law · maxims · moral worth · dignity · virtue · prudence · freedom
Basis or justification
- autonomyIndependent decision-making capacity
- progressMovement toward improvement
- freethoughtReason-based belief formation
- emancipationRelease from legal bondage
maturity · tutelage · rationalism · critique · skepticism · tolerance · cosmopolitanism · republicanism
Former German kingdom
- BalticNorthern European maritime region
- universityHigher education institution
- AlbertinaFemale given name
- professorSenior university teacher
lectures · East Prussia · cathedral · tomb · birthplace · pietism · burghers
a priori
Independent of experience
- categoriesGroups of related things
- phenomenaObservable facts or events
- noumenaReality independent of observation
synthetic a priori · analytic · cognition · perception · understanding · judgment · intuition · sensibility · schema · antinomy
ontology
Study of existence's nature
- noumenaReality independent of observation
- phenomenaObservable facts or events
- thing-in-itselfReality apart from perception
transcendental · antinomy · cosmology · teleology · soul · God · freedom · immortality · dialectic · substance
categorical imperative
Unconditional ethical obligation
- dutyRequired moral task
- good willBenevolent intent toward others
- autonomyIndependent decision-making capacity
deontology · practical reason · moral law · maxims · moral worth · dignity · virtue · prudence · freedom · ought
reason
Basis or justification
- autonomyIndependent decision-making capacity
- progressMovement toward improvement
- freethoughtReason-based belief formation
emancipation · maturity · tutelage · rationalism · critique · skepticism · tolerance · cosmopolitanism · republicanism · freedom of thought
Prussia
Former German kingdom
- BalticNorthern European maritime region
- universityHigher education institution
- AlbertinaFemale given name
professor · lectures · East Prussia · cathedral · tomb · birthplace · pietism · burghers
- German FiguresOtto von Bismarck, Bach, Beethoven, Albert Einstein, Goethe
- ethicsmorality, deontology, dignity, sanctity of life, utilitarianism
- enlightenmentVoltaire, Rousseau, Locke, Montesquieu, Diderot
- EthicistsAristotle, Bentham, Mill, John Stuart Mill, Hume
- intellectualsscholar, intellectual, academic, thinker, philosopher
- sublimesublimity, grandeur, vastness, awe, majesty
Immanuel KantDavid Hume
Scottish Enlightenment philosopher
empiricism · John Locke · George Berkeley · William James · sensualism
Immanuel KantJohn Stuart Mill
British empiricist and reformer
utilitarianism · consequentialism · Ayn Rand · moral relativism · hedonism
Immanuel KantFriedrich Nietzsche
existentialism · Blaise Pascal · Jean-Paul Sartre · Albert Camus · anti-rationalism