PHIL 1610 Lecture : Immanuel Kant
13 Apr 2014
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Document Summary
Kant worked toward the end of the enlightenment. Two main tails of enlightenment: to reconcile theology and science, to bring every branch of human knowledge to the trail bench of reason. Counter-enlightenment: skepticism, or doubt in the strength of reason. At the same time, strong intellectual currents tugging in opposite directions, either toward science and against religion, or against science. So, when kant comes on the intellectual stage, there is already a tendency to doubt, or question what the whole point of the enlightenment is, or what the whole point of knowledge is. Kant sees the task of his philosophy, as on reconciling. Speaking in general terms, he tries to reconcile theology and science. Speaking more specifically, he tries to reconcile rationalism and empiricism to overcome skeptism. Kant tries to bring the enlightenment a closure, and restore the hope in the abilities of human reason. For this, he invented a new philosophical vocabulary, and a new philosophical method.
