Yeah, that about sums it up.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Yeah That About Sums It Up-The Philosophy of Immanuel Kant
I was reading the Wikipedia article on Immanuel Kant when I noticed this under the section on his philosophy:
Yeah, that about sums it up.
Yeah, that about sums it up.
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I miss discussing philosophy with you guys.
ReplyDeleteI liked Kant when we studied him.
On the surface I really liked his categorical imperative: "Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law" which in many ways, I believe, is a grander form of the golden rule: "Do onto others only that which you would have done unto you." However, I think Kant and others took it to far. Ie... some use Kant to say lying is always wrong. (Even if it is a white lie that would save the life of another.)
I also was influenced by Kant to believe there are some truths which can be found out by experimentally and therefore must by discovered by experiment, and some truths experiment can never explain so we need something independent of experiment. (Like what constitutes good morals.)
However, I never fully grasped all Kant was getting at. For example, I never fully understood all the different categories, etc... And his personal writings were hard to understand. Thank heavens for good professors and/or the false belief I actually understand things even a little. :)
To understand Kant, you first have to understand Plato, which would be quite the feat.
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