Immanuel Kant
The punctual professor who synthesized empiricism and rationalism: we know appearances structured by our own minds — and morality begins with duty.
Core ideas
- The mind actively structures experience; we know things as they appear
- Act only on maxims you could will as universal law
- Treat humanity, in yourself and others, always as an end
Historical context
Never traveled far from Königsberg, yet reordered the world of ideas — writing quietly through the era of revolution his ethics quietly endorsed.
Key works
Critique of Pure Reason · Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
Questions they speak to
Minds in conversation
- David HumeEdinburgh
- René DescartesFrance → Netherlands
- Friedrich NietzscheGermany / Basel / Turin
Sources
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — Kant