Immanuel Kant

In our class, we have begun to discuss the views of Immanuel Kant, an Enlightenment thinker.  During this era, there was a cultural movement towards the pursuit of knowledge. This era wanted to bring out individualism rather than go by what the Church says. In this era, Kant talks about three branches of philosophy: logic, physics, and ethics. All three of these are formal areas of inquiry in which Kant goes into detail.

Kant’s first branch, logic, is a non-empirical type of philosophy. You gain this area of philosophy by studying rather than practice. His second branch, physics, is an empirical type of philosophy. This area of philosophy is gained through practice and observation. The third branch, ethics, is a mix of both empirical and non-empirical. You learn ethics from others and also through observing. Kant believed in a need for a “pure” ethics in which the good will reign. Kant believed that good will existed, which opposed Aristotle, to help bring logic into our lives. He believes in telos, purpose of something, to help achieve the good will.

As I said earlier, Kant differs from Aristotle in beliefs. Aristotle’s belief that virtue is for eudemonia differs from Kant. As time progressed, society reformed and it was not as civilized as the time Kant lived in. Therefore, their difference of views are evident cause of the time change. In my opinion, if Kant had lived in the same time as Aristotle, they would have agreed with each other on views more.