KANT, Immanuel (1724-1804):
one of the most important philosophers of all time. Born in
Königsberg, East Prussia, he spent most of his life in scholarly study. Awakened from
what he called his "dogmatic slumber" by the works of HUME, he began to seek a
philosophical basis for knowledge which avoided complete SKEPTICISM. The first exposition
of his work came in The Critique of Pure Reason (1781), which was followed by
works applying his ideas to METAPHYSICS, ETHICS, aesthetics, RELIGION and philosophy. He
argued that our knowledge of things is conditioned by mental structures or
"categories" that order our experience. As a result we cannot know
"things-in-themselves, "the NOUMENA," but only the PHENOMENA which results
from the interaction between our minds and what is observed. Kant argued that we can
neither prove nor disprove the existence of GOD with the result that religion must be
based on FAITH. In his view RELIGION becomes practical morality.
