Kantianism is the philosophy of

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and ...

, a German philosopher born in Königsberg,

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

(now Kaliningrad,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

). The term ''Kantianism'' or ''Kantian'' is sometimes also used to describe contemporary positions in

philosophy of mind Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that studies the ontology and nature of the mind and its relationship with the body. The mind–body problem is a paradigmatic issue in philosophy of mind, although a number of other issues are add ...

epistemology Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Epis ...

, and

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...

Ethics

Kantian ethics Kantian ethics refers to a deontological ethical theory developed by German philosopher Immanuel Kant that is based on the notion that: "It is impossible to think of anything at all in the world, or indeed even beyond it, that could be conside ...

are deontological, revolving entirely around duty rather than emotions or end goals. All actions are performed in accordance with some underlying

maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment * ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim Radio, ''Maxim'' magazine's radio channel on Sir ...

or principle, which are vastly different from each other; it is according to this that the moral worth of any action is judged. Kant's ethics are founded on his view of rationality as the ultimate good and his belief that all people are fundamentally rational beings. This led to the most important part of Kant's ethics, the formulation of the

categorical imperative The categorical imperative (german: kategorischer Imperativ) is the central philosophical concept in the deontological moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant. Introduced in Kant's 1785 '' Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals'', it is a way of eva ...

, which is the criterion for whether a maxim is good or bad. Simply put, this criterion amounts to a thought experiment: to attempt to universalize the maxim (by imagining a world where all people necessarily acted in this way in the relevant circumstances) and then see if the maxim and its associated action would still be conceivable in such a world. For instance, holding the maxim ''kill anyone who annoys you'' and applying it universally would result in self termination. Thus holding this maxim is irrational as it ends up being impossible to hold it. Universalizing a maxim (statement) leads to it being valid, or to one of two contradictions—a contradiction in conception (where the maxim, when universalized, is no longer a viable means to the end) or a contradiction in will (where the will of a person contradicts what the universalisation of the maxim implies). The first type leads to a "perfect duty", and the second leads to an "imperfect duty". Kant's ethics focus, then, only on the maxim that underlies actions, and judges these to be good or bad solely on how they conform to reason. Kant showed that many of our common sense views of what is good or bad conform to his system, but denied that any action performed for reasons other than rational actions can be good (saving someone who is drowning simply out of a great pity for them is not a morally good act). Kant also denied that the consequences of an act in any way contribute to the moral worth of that act—his reasoning being (highly simplified for brevity) that the physical world is outside our full control, and thus we cannot be held accountable for the events that occur in it. The formulations of the

: # Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law. # Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end. #Therefore, every rational being must so act as if he were, through his maxim, always a legislating member in the universal kingdom of ends.

Political philosophy

In political philosophy, Kant has had wide and increasing influence with major political philosophers of the late twentieth century. For example,

John Rawls John Bordley Rawls (; February 21, 1921 – November 24, 2002) was an American moral, legal and political philosopher in the liberal tradition. Rawls received both the Schock Prize for Logic and Philosophy and the National Humanities Medal in ...

drew heavily on his inspiration in setting out the basis for a

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

view of political institutions. The nature of Rawls' use of Kant has engendered serious controversy but has demonstrated the vitality of Kantian considerations across a wider range of questions than was once thought plausible.

References

Bibliography

Henry Allison Henry Allison (born 14 July 1828 in Campbell Town, Tasmania), was an Australian cricket player, who played two first-class cricket matches for Tasmania. He died on 12 May 1881 in Coupeville, Washington, United States at the age of 52. See ...

(2004) ''Kant's transcendental Idealism'' (Yale University Press) *Thomas Auxter (1982) ''Kant's Moral Teleology'' (Mercer University Press) *

Lewis White Beck Lewis White Beck (September 26, 1913 – June 7, 1997) was an American philosopher and scholar of German philosophy. Beck was Burbank Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy at the University of Rochester and served as the Philosophy D ...

(1960) ''A Commentary on Kant's Critique of Practical Reason'' (University of Chicago Press) *R. Beiner and W.J. Booth (eds.) (1993) ''Kant and Political Philosophy'' (Yale University Press) *Gary Banham (2000) ''Kant and the Ends of Aesthetics'' (Macmillan) *Gary Banham (2000) "Teleology, Transcendental Reflection and Artificial Life" ''Tekhnehma: Journal of Philosophy and Technology'' Number 6. *Gary Banham (2003) ''Kant's Practical Philosophy: From Critique to Doctrine'' (Palgrave Macmillan) *Gary Banham (2006) ''Kant's Transcendental Imagination'' (Palgrave Macmillan) *

Howard Caygill Howard Caygill (born 1958) is a British philosopher. He has held the position of Professor of Modern European Philosophy at the Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy (CRMEP), Kingston University since 2011. Previously he had taugh ...

(1989) ''Art of Judgment'' (Blackwell) *Howard Caygill (1995) ''A Kant Dictionary'' (Blackwell) * Mary Gregor (1963) ''Laws of Freedom: A Study of Kant's Method of Applying the Categorical Imperative in the Metaphysik Der Sitten'' (Basil Blackwell) *
Online.
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(2000) ''Lectures on the History of Moral Philosophy'' (Harvard University Press)

Ethics

Political philosophy

See also

References

Bibliography

External links