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Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) was a philosopher whose work on morality is considered some of the most influential of all time. Though he wrote on a variety of topics relating to reason and morality, his ultimate philosophical project was concerned with the question of “what contribution does pure reason make to our knowledge of the world and to the government of our actions?” (x). Kant sought to answer by blending elements of empiricism, whose associated thinkers argued that all knowledge and morals are derived from experience; and rationalism, whose scholars asserted certain ideas could be learned intuitively or proved through deductive reasoning. His writings were so influential within the western philosophical tradition that certain moral ideas and thinkers are described as “pre-Kantian” or “post-Kantian.”
Kant was born in Königsberg, East Prussia, a Germanic city now within the borders of modern Russia. He went on to teach in the town’s University, where he was heavily inspired by the work of astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. A natural scientist by training, much of Kant’s work is highly methodical, and he goes to almost scientific lengths to prove his philosophical ideas. Despite being a prolific writer in a variety of disciplines for his entire career, his breakout work, Critique of Pure Reason (1781), was not published until he was 57. After this point Kant’s philosophical ideas became a mainstay within the academy. Kantian philosophy is often referred to as transcendental idealism, which states the human ego interacts with universally held ideas, or “categories,” through everyday experience to form knowledge.
Kant published several key works, including Critique of Practical Reason (1788) and The Metaphysics of Morals (1797), which both build on ideas initially introduced in Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals in that he is able to expand on his formulation of morality. Though he died in 1804, Kant’s work profoundly changed moral philosophy. His work is widely believed to have inspired a subsequent generation of German idealist philosophers, such as Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel.
Christian Wolff (1679-1754) was a prolific German thinker, who worked in the rationalist tradition of philosophy. Though his work is not widely read in modern times, he heavily inspired Kant. Within broader intellectual history, he is credited with serving as a connection between Kant and famed rational philosopher Gottfried Leibniz. King Freidrick-Wilhem I briefly exiled Wolff from Prussia in 1723 for having controversial ideas, but he was able to return in 1740 after receiving support from Freidrick the Great, the King’s son.
In the preface of Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Kant credits Wolff’s Universal Practical Philosophy as an inspiration for his current philosophical projects. He specifically cites Wolff as the reason “we do not therefore have to open up an entirely new field” (6). Kant praises Wolff’s efforts to establish a universal philosophy but argues he fell short because he did not think to include a pure will derived from a priori ideas. According to Kant, Wolff made the mistake of using general logic, which does not guarantee a priori principles and therefore cannot be the foundation of a metaphysics of morals. Despite these perceived flaws, Kant’s admiration for Wolff’s intellectual process is apparent in his writing.
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By Immanuel Kant