Critical philosophy of Kant

Immanuel Kant is a famous German thinker, who made a great contribution to the development of classical philosophy. His works are relevant to this day. Critical philosophy of Kant is considered especially important. Let's consider its main characteristics and ideas. The revolutionary nature of the works of the thinker lies in the fact that he proposed a fundamentally new philosophical approach. Instead of thinking about the many problems of life, Kant moved to the very origins. The philosopher wondered about the limits of cognition by the human mind of the surrounding reality. That is why the ideas of the thinker are called critical. Immanuel refuted the thesis that the capacity for cognition in humans is unlimited.

Critical philosophy of Kant is divided into three main directions, which can be expressed in three simple questions. The first of them is "what can I know?". Here the thinker refutes the idea of simplicity and limitless cognition. As proof, he cites the so-called distortion of the perception of the person around the world. In the writings of Kant all things exist as if in two dimensions. In the first of them the object exists "in itself", it is what it is in reality. In the second dimension, the thing appears in the form of a phenomenon. It exists only as a reflection in the perception of it by man. Kant believed that the object in reality and the object in the eyes of the individual are completely different things. Consequently, the cognitive abilities of a person are very limited, because the judgment about the world expires only from its reflection, and not from the existing reality.

Then Kant's critical philosophy poses the following question: "What should I do?" Here the thinker considers not abstract, but purely practical tasks. Kant believed that in the soul of each individual laid a certain moral code, the so-called "voice of conscience." The Thinker wrote in his writings that man must live in full accordance with him. Here Kant's critical philosophy densely adjoins the basic principles of Christian religious teaching. The German thinker wrote about the fact that a person can not use his fellow men as a means to achieve the goal. This contradicts all the indisputable laws of morality. A person can be only and exclusively an end. Kant believed that the individual must be above his own selfish tendencies, natural impulses and instincts.

The third question, which the German philosopher considered in his works, sounds like this: "What can I hope for?". Critical philosophy of I. Kant implies the fact that a person living according to moral laws, acquires true freedom. It consists in the fact that a person can independently make decisions and determine his life, and not act "at the behest" of his natural needs, which can be devastating. Kant believed that the efforts of the individual to comply with all humanistic principles are not compensated in life, but it is necessary to act in accordance with them because the moral law is indisputable. The philosopher wrote that a person can only rely on God. Thus, religion derives from morality, and not vice versa, as indicated in most other works of thinkers and religious figures. Kant very peculiar approach to the idea of God, rationalizing it. The thinker believed that religion is useful for a person, because it gives hope for reward for their efforts to observe moral principles. That is, Kant's philosophical teaching implies not even a deep understanding of the value of faith in God, but an awareness of the importance of the idea of an afterlife where all human efforts will be compensated.