The Philosophy of Immanuel Kant
Q&A Radio: 20 April 2014, Question 1
I answered a question on the philosophy of Immanuel Kant on 20 April 2014. You can listen to or download the podcast of just this question below – or check out the whole episode of Philosophy in Action Radio.
What's so bad about the philosophy of Immanuel Kant? In academic philosophy, Kant is often regarded as the culmination of the Enlightenment. According to this standard view, Kant sought to save reason from skeptics such as Hume, he aimed to ground ethics in reason, and he defended human autonomy and liberty. In contrast, Ayn Rand famously regarded Kant as "the most evil man in mankind's history." She rejected his metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics, saying that "the philosophy of Kant is a systematic rationalization of every major psychological vice." Who is right here? What's right or wrong with his philosophy?
My Answer, In Brief: Immanuel Kant's metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics represent radical departures from the Enlightenment traditions – and they ushered in the close of that period of thought. Ayn Rand's philosophic criticisms of him are well-deserved.
Tags: Epistemology, Ethics, History, Honesty, Immanuel Kant, Metaphysics, Philosophy, Universality
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- Duration: 32:37
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Relevant Links
- Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics and Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals by Immanuel Kant
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Kant
- Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Kant's Metaphysics
- Graduate Papers: Kant on Time, Kant on Unity in Experience, and Hume the Cause, Kant the Effect by Diana Brickell
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I'm Dr. Diana Brickell. I'm a philosopher specializing in the application of rational principles to the challenges of real life. I received my Ph.D in philosophy from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2009. My book, Responsibility & Luck: A Defense of Praise and Blame, is available for purchase in paperback and Kindle. The book defends the justice of moral praise and blame of persons using an Aristotelian theory of moral responsibility, thereby refuting Thomas Nagel's "problem of moral luck."
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