Immanuel Kant - The Biography

Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804) was a German philosopher, considered one of history's greatest and most influential in the West. Kant came from a poor family and was created within the Protestant religion. He taught geography and began his university career teaching Natural Sciences. In 1770 he was appointed professor at the University of Königsberg *. 

In 1740, at sixteen, Immanuel Kant entered the University of Königsberg where he studied until age 21. Despite having attended courses in theology and even preached a few sermons, he was more attracted by mathematics and physics. Aided by a young teacher, Martin Knutzen, who had studied with Christian Wolff, one systematizer of rationalist philosophy, and who was also an enthusiast of science of Sir Isaac Newton, he began reading the works of the English physicist and, in 1744, began his first book, which was a problem on the kinetic forces: "Ideas on the Way to Calculate the True living Forces". 

At age 21 - although at this point had decided to pursue an academic career - with the death of his father in 1746 and his failure to obtain the rank of sub-tutor at one of the schools connected to the university, Immanuel Kant forced to temporarily give up his project and to seek immediate means of support. Was compelled to suspend the university studies and earn a living as a private tutor. For nine years maintained this occupation, activity that was successful and allowed him to live with the most influential and refined society of his time. He served three different families, and this time traveled to nearby Arnsdorf. 

Kant established a philosophical system, operating a resolution between the rationalism of Descartes and Leibniz and the empiricism of the philosophers David Hume and John Locke. His work, Critique of Pure Reason, aimed to put all issues on rational analysis, without the confusion that could cause the senses to a more cautious conclusion. Then tried to solve the problem of rational and empirical knowledge, it did not agree that the sensory experience was limited. Kant believed that universal truths could be found a priori, ie, before any experience. 

Kant denied that there was an ultimate truth or the inner nature of things. Therefore proposed a kind of human conduct code, there came, ideas for other famous work, his book A Critique of Practical Reason, which would act as ethical laws that would govern humans. To these laws, he called the Categorical Imperative. 

In 1755 he returned to Königsberg. After a gradual decline that Immanuel Kant was very painful for her friends as much as for himself died at Königsberg on 12 February 1804 two months before his 80th birthday from a degenerative disease. His last words were "this is good". 

* The city was founded in 1255, was from 1457 to 1945 capital and cultural and economic center of Prussia and big city to the east and north of the German Empire. The University of Königsberg was founded in 1544 by Albert, Duke of Prussia, being better known as Albertina.