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Book No. – 3 (Political Science – Western Political Thought)
Book Name – Western Political Thought (OP Gauba)
What’s Inside the Chapter? (After Subscription)
1. General Introduction
2. Kant’s Moral and Political Thought
2.1. Concept of Moral Freedom
2.2. Practical Reason and Human Dignity
2.3. Nature of Politics
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Immanuel Kant
Chapter – 19
General Introduction
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) was a brilliant German philosopher and the most systematic thinker of the Enlightenment.
Known as an exponent of idealism.
Born in Königsberg, East Prussia, to a modest family; father was a saddle-maker, grandfather emigrated from Scotland.
Educated at the University of Königsberg; appointed to the chair of logic and metaphysics in 1770 after a prolonged struggle.
Sociable but never married; lived relatively isolated from the political upheavals of the eighteenth century.
Did not comment directly on contemporary politics but had enormous influence on legal and political thinking during and after his time.
According to Roger Scruton, Kant believed reason should be applied cautiously because it tends to transcend its limits leading to empty and paradoxical beliefs unsupported by rationality.
Reason is most legitimate when applied practically, guiding moral principles and practice.
Kant saw Reason as the distinctive quality of human agency, compelling each person to treat themselves and others as ends-in-themselves, not merely as means to an end — the keynote of his moral philosophy.
Major works include:
Critique of Pure Reason (1781)
Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals (1785)
Critique of Practical Reason (1788)
Critique of Judgement (1790)
Toward Eternal Peace (1795)
Metaphysical Principles of Virtue (1797)
The Conflict of the Faculties (1798)