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'''Immanuel Kant''' (1724-1804) was a German philosopher. Kant was among the last of the major Enlightenment thinkers, and was one of the most influential intellectuals in Europe during his lifetime.

'''Immanuel Kant''' (1724-1804) was a German philosopher. Kant was among the last of the major Enlightenment thinkers, and was one of the most influential intellectuals in Europe during his lifetime.

In his "A Critique of Pure Reason," Kant criticizes pure [[reason]] as a guide to life, establishing several categories through which reason is able to comprehend the ultimate reality.  Though Kant may not have been a Christian himself, he considered Christian values to be the best, due to the antimony of practical reason.  Kant also established a systematic basis for critical philosophy, establishing [[synthetic a priori]] considerations as a prior necessity to [[analytic a priori]] concepts, and suggested a material origin for the solar system (prior to Kant, the origin of the solar system was considered to be immaterial and possibly even a priori).  Kant's own suggestion for a moral daily life was the [[categorical imperative]]: ''Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law''.  Expressed another way, an act is moral only if it works as a rule for everyone.  For example, littering would be wrong because if everyone did it, then there would be an ugly mess.  On the other hand, if a murderer asks you where someone is hiding, you should always tell them because lying is wrong.  The categorical imperative can be contrasted with the [[hypothetical imperative]], which says that you should act according to any maxim which might possibly be willed.  He remained a [[confirmed bachelor]] throughout his life. Kant's aim was to make philosophy  truly scientific.

In his "A Critique of Pure Reason," Kant criticizes pure [[reason]] as a guide to life, establishing several categories through which reason is able to comprehend the ultimate reality.  Though Kant may not have been a Christian himself, he considered Christian values to be the best, due to the antimony of practical reason.  Kant also established a systematic basis for critical philosophy, establishing [[synthetic a priori]] considerations as a prior necessity to [[analytic a priori]] concepts, and suggested a material origin for the solar system (prior to Kant, the origin of the solar system was considered to be immaterial and possibly even a priori).  Kant's own suggestion for a moral daily life was the [[categorical imperative]]: ''Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law''.  Expressed another way, an act is moral only if it works as a rule for everyone.  For example, littering would be wrong because if everyone did it, then there would be an ugly mess.  On the other hand, if a murderer asks you where someone is hiding, you should always tell them because lying is wrong.  The categorical imperative can be contrasted with the [[hypothetical imperative]], which says that you should act according to any maxim which might possibly be willed.  He remained a [[confirmed bachelor]] throughout his life, though he said, toward the end of it, that he could not afford a wife in his youth and did not need one in his old age. Kant's aim was to make philosophy  truly scientific.