Immanuel Kant: German Philosopher

Immanuel Kant: German Philosopher

Immanuel Kant was born in was born in Königsberg in East Prussia in April 22, 1724 to Johann and Anna Cant (Encyclopaedia Britannica). The family had strong religious ties to Pietisam a part of the Luthern Church.   It was later in his life that he changed the spelling of his last name to follow the way German’s spelled things (Encyclopaedia Britannica).  It was a pastor who seen great abilities in Kant and organized for his education.  

In 1740 Kant began schooling at the University of Konigsberg (McCormick).  Originally his studies were that of a theology student but he quickly was drawn to mathematics and physics.  Kant left school in 1746 when his father died and returned home to help with his family.  For about ten years he worked as a private tutor while publishing several papers addressing scientific questions surrounding rationalism and empiricism (Rohlf).

In 1755 Immanuel Kant went back to the University of Konigsberg to receive his doctorate of philosophy (Encyclopaedia Britannica).  He continued teaching for years and wrote profound documents on philosophy.  By 1770 he had earned the title of professor at the University of Konigsberg and taught metaphysics and logic (Rohlf).

In 1781 Kant published the document Critique of Pure Reason (Rohlf).  Kant attempted to explain how a person reason and their experiences worked hand in hand with their thought and understanding.  Basically a person takes their experiences and organizes them in such a way that they create an understanding of how the world works.  This in turn could play a part in a person’s moral’s values and behavior.  

Regarding Kant’s business philosophy, he felt that a business person could indeed be ethical yet at the same not be moral.  Kant’s deontological theory differed completely from the utilitarian theories (Kuehn).  Utilitarianism looked at a certain goal such as happiness and various acts could be justified to reach that goal (McCormick).  However, deontological theories state that no matter what some actions are always wrong even if in the end they are morally admirable (McCormick).  

Kant felt that each person had an obligation to accomplish moral duties for their own well-being and for other people.  He argued that there were two types of duty: hypothetical and categorical imperatives (Stroud).  Hypothetical imperative is when a person performs a certain act with the intention of achieving a desired end result (Kuehn).  However, categorical imperative is when a person performs that same action regardless of what the end result might be and free from personal influence (Kuehn).