With the name of the great German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804) link the beginning of the German classical philosophy. For more than two centuries, Kant's work has been subjected to deep, often ardent and passionate study, thousands of articles and books have been written about him, and special journals devoted to his ideas and their development are still being published. Today it is hardly possible to find in the thought or life of Kant any "back street" that would remain unknown to researchers. But at the same time, Kant in his mental life constantly touched on such eternal questions that will never be answered definitively, so the analysis of his ideas is a necessary moment in the study of philosophy.

In the history of philosophy, Immanuel Kant is often regarded as the most important philosopher after Plato and Aristotle.

Kant's life is not rich in outward events. He was born in a family of artisans in Königsberg, at the age of seventeen he entered the University of Königsberg, where he studied theology, natural sciences and philosophy. For several years, Kant earned his living as a home teacher, then he got a job as a Privatdozent, and quite late - when he was 47 years old! are professors at their home university. Despite the dry manner of presentation, his lectures attracted a significant number of listeners with their content and originality. In addition to logic and metaphysics, he lectured on mathematics, physics, mineralogy, natural law, ethics, physical geography, anthropology, and theology.

Despite the relatively late entry into the university and scientific world, Kant became famous during his lifetime, he was called “the number one German philosopher”.

The philosophical activity of Kant, relating to the second half of the 18th century, falls into 2 periods: subcritical and critical. In the pre-critical period, he dealt mainly with questions of natural science and the philosophy of nature.

All the successes in culture that serve as a school for a person are achieved by the practical use in life of the acquired knowledge and skills. The most important subject in the world to which this knowledge can be applied, the German philosophers believed, is man, for he is the very last goal for himself. Kant wrote about this in Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View. In his opinion, knowledge of the generic characteristics of people as earthly creatures gifted with reason deserves the name "world science", although a person is only a part; earthly creatures.

Kant made an attempt to systematically present the doctrine of man, anthropology, which the philosopher divided into physiological and pragmatic. What did he see as their difference? Physiological anthropology studies what nature makes of man, how he is created and how he develops. Pragmatic anthropology (human science) studies a person as a freely acting being, trying to understand what he can become as a result of his own efforts.

Physiological human science has its limits. For example, Descartes sought to understand what memory is based on. This problem can be considered in another aspect. As soon as the researcher thinks about, say, what makes memory difficult or facilitates it, tries to expand it or make it more flexible, such a researcher inevitably enters the sphere of pragmatic anthropology.

In the first period of his activity, Kant focused on questions of natural science and the philosophy of nature. The result was an outstanding treatise, The General Natural History and Theory of the Sky. In it, the philosopher outlined his famous cosmogonic hypothesis, according to which he presented the initial state of the Universe as a chaotic cloud of various material particles.

One of the most important tasks of philosophy, Kant considered the development of problems of morality, which determines human behavior. He wrote: “Two things always fill the soul with new and stronger surprise and reverence, the more often and longer we think about them, this is the starry sky above me and the moral law in me.”

The development of ethical problems occupies a special place in Kant's work. This is the focus of his work, such as "Fundamentals of the Metaphysics of Morality", "Critique of Practical Reason", "On Primordial Evil in Human Nature", "Metaphysics of Morals". In substantiating his system of morality, Kant proceeded from the presence of "good pain" as the essence of morality. The will, in his opinion, is determined only by the moral law. In addition to the concepts of goodwill and moral law, the basic concept of morality, the philosopher believed, is the concept of duty.

The moral law, according to Kant, contains the fundamental rules of human behavior, or practical principles. Here is how one philosopher put it: “Act in such a way that the maxim of your will can at the same time have the force of the principle of universal legislation”. This formula is called Kant's categorical imperative. It shows how a person who aspires to become truly moral should act. "The categorical imperative would be one that would represent some act as objectively necessary in itself, without reference to any other goal."

Kant advises a person to strictly and urgently, most attentively, treat the maxims of his behavior. At the same time, one should correlate one's subjective rules with universal human morality. It is necessary in every possible way to avoid such a situation when a person and humanity can become for someone only a means to achieve their own goals. Only such an action can be considered truly moral, in which man and humanity act as absolute goals. According to Kant, without free moral decisions and actions, freedom and morality cannot be established in the world.

Ethics of Kant is closed within the framework of the will and its defining foundations, i.e. internal determining factors.

It can be argued that the pre-critical period in Kant's activity was a necessary prerequisite for the critical one.

The entire pre-critical period of Kant's activity passed under a certain influence of mechanical natural science. This does not mean that at a critical period he abandoned this natural scientific basis for his philosophical views.

In 1770, Kant's transition to the views of the "critical" period took place.

This event took place under the influence of the works of D. Hume. Kant later wrote that it was "Hume who awakened him from his dogmatic slumber". It was Hume's ideas that forced Kant to think critically about the process of cognition. In 1781 his Critique of Pure Reason appeared, followed by a Critique of Practical Reason (1788) and a Critique of Judgment (1790). Hence the name of the second period in his work - critical.

Hume basically rejected the pre-experimental, i.e. a priori knowledge, which in his time was called pure, opposing it to empirical experience. Hume negatively resolved the question of the possibility of metaphysics, i.e. teachings about non-experiential being, information about which allegedly comes directly from the mind, by analyzing the concept.

Hume's radical judgments seemed too straightforward to Kant, and he decided to return once more to the problem of so-called pure knowledge.

In 1781, his main work, Critique of Pure Reason, was published, in which this theory acquired the features of completeness. Historical conditions, natural-science and philosophical prerequisites constituted the necessity due to which the theory of scientific knowledge appeared. It can be argued that the pre-critical period of Kant's activity was a necessary prerequisite for the critical one. If in the first period, Kant, dealing with issues of natural science and the philosophy of nature, he himself developed various kinds of natural science theories, then in the second period his attention was turned to the study of what scientific knowledge is, and in particular to its specific form as theory. In the second period, Kant becomes aware of the practice of developing natural scientific theories, the creation of which he himself was involved in the first period.

"Critical" Kant considers space as an external, and time - as an internal form of contemplation. The "critical" Kant argues that space and time are given to us independently of empirical experience.

The subjective interpretation of the fact of the universality of space and time, which Kant calls "metaphysical", he supplements with a "transcendental interpretation". The essence of the latter is the substantiation of the thesis: only the recognition of the a priori nature of space and time makes mathematics and mechanics possible.

Kant made a significant contribution to social philosophy. In his works, such as , "The idea of ​​universal history in the world-civil plan", "To Eternal Peace", Kant proceeded from the idea of ​​progress in the historical development of mankind put forward by the ideologists of the Enlightenment. At the same time, he believed that history develops according to a certain plan. The philosopher attached decisive importance to the activities of the people themselves.

According to Kant, the main problem of mankind is the achievement of a legal civil society. He considered the republican system to be the ideal state structure.

Becoming one of the largest in the XVIII century. Theorists of the "rule of law", Kant insisted that in a true republic, universally binding laws should rule, and government officials should ensure strict observance of these laws. Kant referred to the most important principles of the republican structure as “separation of the executive power (government) from the legislative power”, which was supposed to remain in the hands of the monarch, who, however, was alienated from the executive power.

Kant was convinced that the transition from despotic absolutism to "legal civil society" is possible and desirable if it is carried out through reforms carried out "from above" by enlightened monarchs. Justifying the right to criticize existing forms of government and all kinds of social institutions, Kant at the same time considered unacceptable any unauthorized actions of subjects to implement even the most reasonable projects to improve the existing order of things.

Kant pointed out that “if the revolution is successful and a new system is established, then the illegality of this undertaking and the commission of the revolution cannot free the subjects from the obligation to submit as good citizens to the new order of things, and they cannot evade honest obedience to the government, which now has power” .

An important place in the socio-historical philosophy of Kant was occupied by the problems of war and peace. Already in The Idea of ​​a General History... Kant supported the appeal of the French thinker of the early 18th century. Charles Saint-Pierre to the conclusion of a "treaty of perpetual peace" between European states. Kant pointed out that endless wars threaten to create for mankind "a pitch-black hell, full of suffering", and with their devastation to destroy the achieved high stage of civilization. From Kant's point of view, eternal peace is the same cardinal task and goal of world-historical progress as the establishment of a "universal legal civil status": both are inextricably linked.

Kant believed that if the issue of war is decided not only by politicians, but by all citizens (as is the case under republican rule), then the latter “think carefully before starting such a bad game, because they will have to take on all the hardships of the war” , and understanding this should encourage them to decide to save the world. Therefore, the provision that the civil system in every state should be republican figured in Kant as the first article of the draft "treaty of perpetual peace between states" developed by him.

Kant published this project shortly after the conclusion in 1795 of a peace treaty between coalitions of monarchical states and republican France. It then seemed to him that eternal peace is “a task that is being gradually” solved and is getting closer to implementation.

In the essay “Towards Eternal Peace”, six “preliminary articles” of the project proposed by Kant were first formulated: 1) “a peace treaty destroys all existing causes of a future war,” even those currently unknown to the contracting parties (by, for example, canceling possible grounds for mutual territorial claims - grounds hidden in unexplored archives); 2) “no independent state should be acquired by another state either by inheritance, or in exchange, or as a gift”; 3) "standing armies should eventually disappear completely"; 4) it is prohibited to use state loans to finance the preparation of war or its conduct; 5) "no state should forcibly interfere in the political structure and government of other states"; 6) “no state, during a war with another, should resort to such hostile actions that would make a future state of peace impossible”, for example, to such actions as sending murderers around the corner and poisoners, violation of the terms of surrender, incitement to treason in the state of the enemy, etc. I must say that until the end of the 20th century. in all subsequent projects to eliminate the threat of wars, provisions appeared on the elimination or significant reduction of standing armies, non-interference in the internal affairs of states, respect for their sovereignty and territorial integrity.

According to Kant, states by nature are “in a non-legal state” among themselves, which is a state of war, since they are guided in their relations by the primitive animal “right of the stronger”. They consider themselves entitled to wage wars to resolve conflicts that arise between them by such forceful means.

Kant stated that if it is theoretically impossible to prove the achievability of "eternal peace", then it is also impossible to prove its impracticability. In such a situation, the most important, according to Kant, is the following prohibitive verdict on the part of practical legal reason: "there should be no war." From the point of view of such an obligation, Kant believed, the question is no longer whether the eternal world is real or unreal, but whether we should contribute to its implementation (and the establishment of a “republican” system conducive to this, which was conceived as rooting out the encroachments of the rulers to lead wars in their own, predominantly dynastic interests). Kant's answer to the question posed was unconditionally positive: "Even if the full realization of this goal would remain a good wish, nevertheless we, no doubt, are not deceived by accepting the maxim to work tirelessly in this direction, for this (pacifist) maxim is our duty" .

Kant explained that "the establishment of a universal and permanent peace is not just a part, but the ultimate goal of the doctrine of law within the limits of reason alone." Kant pointed out that the pacifist rule of obligation "is borrowed a priori from the ideal of the legal association of people under public laws." He exclaimed with pathos: “what can be more sublime than this pacifist idea”, adding that in the sense of its universal significance, i.e. humanistic value, it has "absolute reality".

The teachings of Kant, replete with contradictions, had a huge impact on the subsequent development of scientific and philosophical thought. With his doctrine of the antinomies of reason, Kant played an outstanding role in the development of dialectics.

In the book “General Natural History and Theory of the Sky”, he developed a hypothesis of the origin of the Universe: the solar system arose from a huge cloud of matter particles discharged in space and, in accordance with the laws discovered in physics by Newton, developed to modern device. Developing the ideas of Galileo and Descartes in physics, he substantiates the doctrine of the relativity of motion and rest. In biology, it approaches the development of the idea of ​​a genetic classification of the animal world, and in anthropology, the idea of ​​the natural history of human races. Without the formulation and solution of the problems of natural science developed in the first period of creativity, Kant could not have addressed the problem of the cognizability of the world. The second period of his work was devoted to answering the question of how reliable universal knowledge is possible, what are the sources and boundaries of knowledge, for which he carries out a "criticism" of the mind. The basis of Kant's "critical" philosophy is the doctrine of "things in themselves" and "appearances" ("things for us"). He proves that there is a world of things independent of our consciousness (from sensations and thinking) (“things for us”, that is, phenomena), which, acting on the human senses, appears to him in the form of images. A person cannot confidently say whether this ideal image of a thing corresponds to the thing itself (as it exists by itself, in the absence of a knowing subject. Kant called the essence of a thing “a thing in itself” (noumenon). He calls the world of noumena transcendental (from Latin transcendere - to cross), that is, existing on the other side of human experience. A person can know about things only what they are to him, and the essence of things is unknowable ( agnosticism).

The successor of Kant's ideas was Johann Gottlieb Fichte, who created a subjective-idealistic philosophical system ("science"), which is based on the principle of freedom and dignity of man.

– of the highest flourishing(first half of the 19th century). This is the period of transition from subjective to objective idealism in German classical philosophy and the creation of two prominent systems of objective idealism. The creator of the first system is Friedrich Wilhelm Schelling, who laid the foundations of a dialectical approach to understanding nature, which he considered as an unconscious form of the life of the mind, the only purpose of which is the generation of a conscious form; defended the ideas of a continuous dynamic process of development from the simplest forms to complex ones through the interaction of opposing forces. The logical continuation of his ideas was the philosophy Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel(1770-1831), who created a system of objective idealism, the basis of which is the principle of the identity of thinking and being. The identity of thinking and being forms the substantial basis of the world and contains within itself the difference between the subjective and the objective. According to Hegel, thinking is not a subjective human activity, but an objective entity independent of a person, the fundamental principle of everything that exists. Thinking, thinking itself, making itself an object of knowledge, splits into objective and subjective and "alienates" its being in the form of matter, nature, which is its "other being". Objectively existing thinking Hegel calls the absolute idea. Since the mind is not specific feature of a person, but is the fundamental principle of the world, then the world is basically logical, that is, it exists and develops according to the laws inherent in thinking, reason. At the same time, the mind as a substantial entity is not outside the world, but in itself, as an internal content that manifests itself in all the variety of phenomena of reality. The logic of the development of the world is the logic of the development of the absolute idea, which at first alienates its being, gives it a movement, as a result of which being becomes meaningful. Then it reveals itself as an essence, as a concept, and finally, thanks to the development of this concept as an absolute idea, it appears as a development of nature and society.

The most important achievement of Hegel's philosophy was the consistent development of the dialectical method (the basic laws of dialectics).

– Materialistic(mid-nineteenth century). This period is associated with creativity Ludwig Feuerbach(1804-1872), who developed the original concept of anthropological materialism and gave a consistent critique of Hegelian idealism. The basis of Feuerbach's philosophical views is the materialistic doctrine of nature. He argued that nature is the only reality, and man is its highest product, completion. In man, and thanks to him, nature feels and thinks itself. Condemning the idealistic interpretation of thinking as an extra-natural entity, he comes to the conclusion that the question of the relation of thinking to being is a question of the essence of man, since only man thinks. Therefore, philosophy must become a doctrine of man, that is, anthropology. Man is inseparable from nature and the spiritual should not be opposed to nature. Feuerbach's teaching is often regarded as the final stage in the development of classical philosophy. At the same time, the concepts that were formed in later periods are considered as non-classical, or post-classical.

Leading trends in German classical philosophy

The strengthening of idealistic tendencies in the philosophy of Germany in the 19th century was complemented by the revival of materialism at the end of this century. In addition, integral philosophical systems of dualism, subjective and objective idealism were formed. A special contribution of the German classics to philosophical thought was the development of the dialectical method (on an idealistic basis).

I. Kant stated that "the principle of life, that is, spiritual nature ... can never be the subject of our positive thinking ...". Denying God as the architect of the universe, he argued that the divine spirit created the necessary prerequisites for the subsequent natural-material process. Convinced that rationalistic metaphysics is not capable of comprehending the essence of a person's spiritual life, he came to the conclusion that it is impossible to know the depths of being of everything essential, considering the real and necessary task of transforming metaphysics into a science "about the limits of the human mind."

Hegel developed objective-idealistic philosophical system(the system is the order of presentation of the material proposed by the philosopher, the connection of logical categories, the general construction of the entire philosophical building), offered a holistic picture of the development of being. Since the basis of reality, according to Hegel, is active spirituality- the world mind (world spirit, absolute idea), and its activity and activity lies in thinking, self-knowledge, then he considers the process of such self-knowledge, revealing three stages of its development.

1. Logics as the main part of the Hegelian system. At first, he stays in the element of pure thinking, cognizes himself as a spiritual principle and reveals his possibilities (“Logic”). Logic includes the doctrine of being, the doctrine of essence and the doctrine of the concept. Each section, in turn, is divided into triads. The first two parts constitute objective logic and consider objective relations (being, becoming, qualities, quantities, measure, essence, identity, difference, contradiction, necessity, chance, etc. The third part is the subjective logic of deriving new knowledge, that is, knowledge. All logical categories are not considered in isolation from each other and not in a frozen form, but as interconnected and passing into each other. Hegel considers “pure being”, which is equal to “nothing”, to be the beginning of the development of logical categories. is becoming. In this regard, Hegel analyzes the category of "removal", which means the preservation of the old in the new. Thus, Hegel comes to the idea of ​​the dialectical nature of negation, which is a moment of connection and development. The triad "thesis-antithesis-synthesis" and dialectical negation constitute the content of one of the laws of dialectics, which Hegel uses in the construction of the entire system.

2. Philosophy of nature as a science about the idea and its otherness ("Philosophy of Nature"). Having known its own content in the Logic, the absolute idea "decides from itself to freely let go of itself as nature." The main forms of natural alienation of the existence of an absolute idea are mechanics, physics, and organics. Analyzing mechanics, Hegel considers space, time, matter, motion, universal gravitation. Describing physics, he analyzes the problems of heat, light, sound, and the structure of matter. Considering organics, he gives characteristics to questions of biology, botany and zoology. Hegel argues that the transition from the inanimate to the living is the completion of the natural process. This means that nature is the lowest level of self-knowledge of the absolute idea. It receives its highest incarnation in man and society.

3. Philosophy of spirit, which consists of the doctrine of the subjective spirit (anthropology, phenomenology, psychology), the doctrine of the objective spirit (law, morality and the state) and the doctrine of the absolute spirit (art, religion, philosophy). Having exhausted its possibilities in nature, the world mind leaves it; then it continues its development in the history of mankind (“Philosophy of the Spirit”), at the same time revealing itself to the knowing person, to which the doctrine of the subjective spirit is devoted. Describing individual consciousness in anthropology, Hegel focuses on the analysis of the spirit (soul) in its connection with the body, in phenomenology he considers the development of the spirit as self-knowledge, and in psychology the spirit is considered in complete isolation from the material. The basis of individual consciousness, according to Hegel, is an objective spirit. The objective spirit in its development goes through three stages: abstract law, morality and morality. At the same time, morality covers the family, civil society and the state, after which the objective spirit rises to the stage of world history. The purpose of the activity of the absolute spirit is the realization of freedom in the external world, so that reality becomes a world of free relations. Therefore, the problem of freedom and necessity comes to the fore. Freedom according to Hegel is not arbitrariness, it is limited by conditions. To be free means to be aware of boundaries and necessity, therefore only thinking person because he is aware of his freedom. Freedom in society is overcoming the arbitrariness of individuals. Here freedom is a restriction of the will, which is carried out by legal norms and laws. The highest embodiment of freedom is the state. Hegel considers the history of mankind as progress in the awareness of freedom. Hegel divides the whole world history into three main epochs: eastern, ancient, German. In the Eastern world, a person is not yet aware of the essence of freedom, so here everyone is a slave. In the ancient world, only a few were able to realize its essence. Only in the Germanic or Christian world is everyone aware of their free spiritual essence. The highest degree of self-knowledge of the absolute idea is the absolute spirit, for it is completely free. It manifests itself in art as sensory contemplation, in religion as representation, and in philosophy as thinking in concepts.

I.G. Fichte creates an extended system subjective idealism. He called his philosophy "the first system of freedom". Philosophy is not a system, but the self-consciousness of a person. He recognizes the absolute human "I" (that is, including everything that can be thought) as the primary reality. He criticizes Kant for the unknowability of things in themselves from the standpoint of subjective idealism. At the center of his system, he puts the “absolute Self” (that is, he recognizes the absolute human “I” as the primary reality), an abstract transcendental subject, which, in fact, acts as the highest principle of all being and appears as a single substance underlying being. The world exists only through the lens of our perception. We are sure of its existence because we see, hear, touch and smell. But we are capable of perception only because we exist. After all, if we were not there, then we could not get a single impression of the environment and would be completely unaware of its existence. This means that if I exist, then the world (for me) exists, and when I am not, there is no world (for me). The whole world exists only because I perceive it. Only my existence fills everything around with meaning, reality takes on meaning. Therefore, I do not see the object directly, but my idea of ​​it, which is a particle of myself or my Self. If I enter into relationships with people, then I see not so much them as my idea of ​​them, which is also a particle of my Self. Therefore, the external world exists through me, because of me, for me and in me, therefore: "the whole world is I." Everything else is called "not-I" - this is the whole objective reality, that is nature. But nature does not exist aimlessly, not by itself, but for some specific purpose. For its development, the “absolute Self” needs something, overcoming which, it will be able to reveal its hidden essence and realize itself. Thus, the “absolute I” (subject), overcoming the resistance of “not I” (nature), reaches the pinnacle of its development. Movement towards it is the main idea and meaning historical development humanity. Absolute being (the highest reality) is characterized by continuous movement, that is, activity. This duality is the main contradiction that pushes the I to develop through the "not-I". In this movement, it constantly pulsates from coincidence and merger to separation and opposition. In addition to the "I" there is a "not-I" (that is, an object of nature that affects the "I" and determines its activity). The unnatural nature of a person, his inclinations (that is, "not-I") impel the "I" to action. “I” is an active thinking subject whose activity is a dialectical process: the initial statement passes to the opposite (negation), and from it to the third (synthesis of the first two positions).

Immanuel Kant appears as dualist, believing that reality is based on two principles - material and spiritual. According to Kant, the external world only provides the matter of sensation, but our own spiritual apparatus arranges this matter in space and time and supplies the concepts through which we understand experience. Things in themselves are not in space and time, they are not substances. Space and time are subjective, they are part of our perceptual apparatus. Space and time are not concepts: they are forms of "intuition". There are also a priori concepts - twelve categories, which are divided into four triads: 1) quantities - unity, plurality, universality; 2) qualities - reality, negation, limitation; 3) relationships - substantiality and chance, cause and effect, interaction; 4) modalities - possibility, existence, necessity. They are also subjective, like space and time.

According to Kant, there are only three proofs of the existence of God through pure reason - ontological, cosmological and physical-theological. ontological proof defines God as the most real being. The cosmological proof says: if anything exists, then an absolutely necessary Being must exist; now I know that I exist, therefore an absolutely necessary Being exists and it must be real. The physical-theological proof claims that the universe reveals an order, which is proof of the existence of a purpose, but this only proves the Architect, not the Creator, and therefore cannot give a correct concept of God. Thus, Kant seeks to refute all purely rational evidence for the existence of God. Rejecting the claims of science to the knowledge of things in themselves, he limited knowledge in order to make room for faith. It is faith in the immortality of the soul, freedom and God that constitutes the basis for man to be a moral being. God, freedom and immortality are only "ideas of reason" which cannot prove their reality. The meaning of these ideas is practical and related to morality.

According to Kant, man belongs to two worlds. The first world is sensually perceived, where it is subject to the laws of nature and acts according to the principle of nature, which says: no phenomenon can be the cause of itself, it always has its cause in something else (another phenomenon). The second world is the intelligible world, which freely submits itself to the law of reason, that is, the moral law, and operates according to the principle: a rational being is an end in itself, it cannot be treated only as a means to something else. Precisely because it is an end, it can act as a freely acting cause, that is, free will. The intelligible world is a collection of "intelligent beings as things in themselves", self-existing autonomous monads. Man as a being endowed with reason, a thinking being, and not just feeling, is a "thing in itself." "Knowledge" of the intelligible world is revealed only to practical reason. This is knowledge of a special kind, this knowledge-requirement that determines our actions: "Act in such a way that the maxim of your will can at the same time have the force of the principle of universal legislation." This means: do not turn another rational being only into a means for the realization of your private goals.

materialistic line German classical philosophy is represented by the concept of L. Feuerbach, who became the first consistent critic of Hegelian idealism. Considering nature, material being as the basis of all spiritual life, he thereby affirmed the primacy of matter in relation to thinking. Feuerbach was convinced of the cognizability of the world, and he considered sensory perception to be the main source of new knowledge. Feuerbach is in position sensationalism. The truth of concepts is established by comparing them with sensory data. Therefore, sensual contemplation is the criterion of the truth of thought. In the world mind, about which Hegel wrote, Feuerbach saw modified ideas about God. He gives a detailed critique of religion ("The Essence of Christianity"). Feuerbach is convinced that not only fear, but also the difficulties of life, aspirations, hopes and ideals of a person are reflected in religion. God is born exclusively in human suffering. God is what man wants to be. Therefore, religion has a real life content, and is not just an illusion and nonsense. Feuerbach connects the emergence of religion with an early stage of human history ("Natural Religion"). Worship of natural phenomena, as well as the religious cult in modern times ("Spiritual Religion"), shows that a person deifies everything on which he really depends. Religion is not inherent in man from birth. The essence of religion is the human heart. “Man,” Feuerbach wrote, “believes in the gods, not because he has fantasy and feeling, but also because he has the desire to be happy, ... he believes in a perfect being because he himself does not want to die. ". Criticizing religion, he proclaims the need to create new religion which must be based on the love of man for man. Religion and philosophy, from his point of view, are incompatible forms of worldview.

The most important problems of German classical philosophy

Theory of knowledge. This problem is most fully developed by Kant. Kant proves that universal knowledge is possible and its source is a priori (lat. a priori - initially), that is, forms of sensibility and reason that precede the experience and interaction of man with the world. Kant identifies three human cognitive abilities - sensibility, reason, reason - and subjects them to "criticism", that is, analyzes the questions of whether they give reliable true knowledge, i.e. knowledge that is true.

A priori forms of sensuous contemplation is the ability to feel. From Kant's point of view, things that exist objectively (outside a person) affect his senses and cause chaotic, disordered sensations (visual, auditory, etc.). It is impossible to prove the correspondence of these sensations to reality. Why, then, do all people perceive the world in the same way? Kant explains this by saying that a person has an a priori (pre-experimental, that is, obtained not as a result of the accumulation of experience or in the course of training, but essentially innate) the ability to organize, order his sensations in such a way as to perceive the world in space and time. Space and time, according to Kant, do not depend on experience and precede it, which proves their universality and necessity, therefore space and time are not forms of the existence of things. Space is an a priori form of external sensory intuition, and time is an a priori form of internal sensory intuition (thus, “the idea of ​​space,” Kant writes, “must already be given in advance in order for certain sensations to be correlated to something outside me. …”, “it is impossible to imagine the absence of space, although it is not difficult to imagine the absence of objects in it”). It follows that sense perceptions are not images of things, and therefore do not give true knowledge about them. Since the a priori ability to perceive the world in spatio-temporal forms is the same for all people, it is possible to formulate universal mathematical laws, and hence the existence of mathematics as a science.

A priori forms of reason. Thanks to this ability, according to Kant, a person compares and systematizes the data of sensory knowledge. Such systematization is carried out with the help of concepts. The most general concepts are called categories. Kant believes that the understanding has twelve a priori categories. He compiles a table of categories, consisting of four groups: categories of quantity (unity, plurality, totality); quality categories (reality, negation, limitation); categories of relationship (essence, causality, communication); categories of modality (possibility, existence, necessity). With their help, a person tries to explain reality. However, in reality, he does not cognize the world, but imposes on it his own ideas about unity, causality, patterns, etc. Thus, both reason and sensibility do not allow penetrating into the essence of things. What we consider to be the laws of nature, in fact, is the connection that the mind brings into the world. Due to the fact that the ability to think with the help of categories is universal, the existence of natural sciences with their laws is possible. In order for true knowledge to arise, it is necessary that the diverse data of contemplation be combined (synthesized) in the concept of an object. The highest condition for this synthesis is the unity of our consciousness (the “transcendental unity of apperception”). Our consciousness itself constructs an object, not in the sense that it generates it, but in the sense that it itself gives the cognizing object the form under which it can be known - the form of universal and necessary knowledge. Hence the conclusion: it is not the forms of our mind that conform to the things of nature, but, on the contrary, the things of nature conform to the forms of the mind. Our mind finds in nature only what it itself includes in it before experience, therefore things in themselves are unknowable.

A priori forms of reason. With their help, a person tries to get a holistic, unified knowledge of all reality. Kant explores the mind as the faculty of reasoning, leading to the emergence of ideas. An idea, in his understanding, is something that can never be perceived in sensory experience. Reason has three a priori ideas: psychological - the idea of ​​the soul, cosmological - the idea of ​​the world, theological - the idea of ​​God. The philosophy that analyzes these ideas is an imaginary science. It should not be a theoretical science, but a “criticism” of reason, establishing the boundaries of theoretical reason and substantiating the need to move from it to practical reason, that is, to ethics. Exploring the possibilities of the mind, Kant proves that the attempts of the mind to give a theoretical answer to the question of what the world, God or the soul is leads to contradictory answers (antinomies - from the Greek antinomia - a contradiction in the law). According to Kant, one can irrefutably prove: 1) that the world had a beginning in time, limited in space, and that it had no beginning in time and unlimited in space; 2) that the material particles that make up the world are infinitely divisible and that they are indivisible; 3) that the whole world takes place only in accordance with necessary laws, and that there are deeds and actions performed freely; 4) that in the world there is, as its cause, an unconditionally necessary being or God, and that there is no unconditional being - God in the world. He argues that the mind is both the highest ability of knowledge (although in reality it does not know anything, but only regulates rational knowledge), and the highest ability of delusion (since it cannot give up the desire to know the absolute, transcendent, that is, the “thing in itself” ).

Therefore, philosophy is possible only as knowledge oriented towards the analysis of the cognitive process itself and its limits, as well as towards the comprehension of man and ethical problems.

Thus, no ability allows a person to know the essence of reality. In other words, a person cognizes the world not as it actually exists, but as it appears to people. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish between things that exist in themselves - "things in themselves" and the phenomena of things - that is, things as they are perceived and explained by man. Among the things in themselves, Kant includes God, soul and matter, which, in his understanding, are fundamentally unknowable.

Unlike Kant, Hegel was convinced of the complete knowability of reality. He considered the true goal of knowledge to be the comprehension of the world mind, which reveals itself to man. Hegel was a consistent rationalist: the world is arranged rationally and accessible to rational knowledge. The German philosopher singled out three types of knowledge that try to comprehend the world mind in different forms: art (in the form of an image); religion (in the form of representation) and philosophy (in the form of concept). It is this latter form of cognition that is the most adequate; it is philosophy, capable of answering any questions, that gives the final truth. Hegel did not single out science as a special form of cognition, believing that it studies only the material world, and therefore does not have the ability to explain the world mind.

In epistemology, Feuerbach continues the line sensationalism-empiricism, believing that sensory experience is the source of knowledge, and contemplation and thinking interact in cognition.

Hegel's greatest merit is that he developed dialectical method understanding of the world (the method is a reflection of the real connection, movement, development of the phenomena of the objective world) and showed that knowledge is a historical process, and truth is not a ready-made result of knowledge (it develops), which has an objective character. He outlined his dialectics in the Science of Logic, where he substantiated the first developed system in the history of thought. dialectical logic and formulated the basic laws and categories of dialectics, substantiating the thesis about the unity of dialectics, logic and the theory of knowledge.

Hegel's dialectic is based on the idealistic idea that the source of all development - both nature and society, and human thinking - lies in the self-development of the concept, and therefore has a logical, spiritual nature. Therefore, the dialectic of concepts determines the dialectic of things and processes in nature and society. The dialectic of things is only a reflected, “alienated” form of the true dialectic, inherent only in the “life of the concept”.

The central place in Hegel's dialectic is occupied by the category of contradiction, which he considers not as an antinomy, that is, a logically insoluble contradiction, but as a unity of mutually exclusive and at the same time mutually presupposing opposites (polar concepts), which is understood here as an internal impulse of development, but not of material being, but of absolute spirit. The main principle of the structural construction of Hegelian philosophy is the triad (as an expression of the dialectical law of negation of negation). Any development proceeds according to a certain scheme: affirmation (thesis), negation of this assertion (antithesis) and negation of negation, removal of opposites (synthesis). In synthesis, the thesis and antithesis seem to reconcile with each other, since a new qualitative state arises from them, but the thesis and antithesis are not completely destroyed in it. They are preserved in the synthesis as a harmonizing unity. Each concept, according to Hegel, goes through such a triple cycle of development - affirmation, negation and negation of negation, or a new affirmation, upon reaching which the whole process is reproduced again, but at a higher level.

But there is a contradiction between the method and the system in Hegel's philosophy: the very spirit of the dialectical method contradicts the conservative system (moreover, this contradiction is by no means dialectical). The contradictions between the method and the system in Hegel's philosophy are as follows: 1) if the dialectic of the method comes from the recognition of the constancy of movement in nature, society and cognition, then the system requires a limit in development; 2) if the method is based on the recognition of the universality of contradictions, then the system requires the establishment of an ideal, non-contradictory state (Hegel turns out to be on the side of the system, changes the method to please the Prussian monarchy); 3) if the method requires the correspondence of the movement of thought to real processes, then the system offers the construction of connections from the head (Hegel also prefers the system here and constructs artificial connections, instead of coordinating his teaching with the actual presentation of things); 4) if the method requires a constant transformation of reality, then the system requires the perpetuation of the existing state of affairs. Hegel is a prisoner of the system. Thus, in Hegel's philosophy, the dialectical method is subordinate to the metaphysical system.

Anthropology. Kant was convinced that every person is an absolute value, that a person can never be used as a means, but there is always an end, both for oneself and for others. Therefore, he saw the essence of moral duty in striving for one's own perfection and contributing to the happiness of others. The German philosopher emphasized: the moral (or immoral) behavior of a person, on the one hand, and his position, life successes, on the other, often do not correspond to each other, which seems unfair. It is the need for higher justice that requires, from his point of view, the introduction of postulate free will, the immortality of the soul and the existence of God as the guarantor of such justice.

According to Hegel's scheme, the "spirit" wakes up in a person first in the form of a word, speech, and then language. labor tools, material culture, civilization appear as later derivative forms of the embodiment of the same creative power of the spirit (thinking). The starting point of development is seen in the ability of a person (as a “final spirit”) to cognize himself before mastering all that “wealth of images” that were previously contained within the spirit as unconscious and involuntarily arising states in it.

Feuerbach considers man as a natural being with a body and a thinking head; as "I" opposed to "You" and associated with it. People differ from other natural beings in that they are intelligent social beings, inclined to cooperate and communicate positively with each other. Outside of communication, Feuerbach argues, an individual cannot be formed, realizing and appreciating the other, he is conscious and appreciating himself. The I-Thou relationship is fundamental to unlocking human nature. The highest level of this relationship is love. A child becomes a person when he begins to love. Feuerbach's emphasis on the special significance of the personality of the other, i.e. “You” for a person gives grounds to characterize his teaching as tuism (from Latin tu - you). Rejecting the Kantian notion of an a priori categorical imperative, he argues that a person always acts at the behest of sensuality, the forms of which are diverse: love of life, striving for happiness, egoism, interest, need, pleasure, etc. Following his natural desire for happiness, a person acts out of necessity, but at the same time acts freely. Real freedom is impossible outside of time and space, outside of relation to sensually perceived phenomena, so he criticizes the Hegelian idea of ​​​​freedom as the essence of thinking. Freedom is the unity of a person with the conditions in which his essence is manifested, when his natural desire for happiness is satisfied and his abilities are realized. The means of creating a harmonious society, according to Feuerbach, is love. loving person one cannot be happy alone, for his happiness is connected with the happiness of the one he loves. Love is essence and purpose human life, as well as the decisive force of social progress.

Ethics. Ethics is an important part of Kant's teaching. Kant's predecessors argued that the basis of human moral behavior is in religion and the moral law was communicated to people by God himself. Kant argued that morality is independent of religion, and the moral law is not derived from religious precepts. However, he did not give up religious faith, believing that God is not the legislator of morality, but the cause of the moral order in the world. In order to be moral, a person does not need religion, but by virtue of purely practical reason, he must be moral. The existence of God, unprovable by theoretical reason, is a necessary postulate of practical reason. The basis of moral obligations is not to be found in the nature of man, or in the conditions in which he is placed, but exclusively in pure reason. As a physical bodily being, a person must obey necessity, that is, the laws that society establishes. But as a rational being, he can make a moral choice: to believe - not to believe, love - hate, etc. Only in the realm of the spirit, in the transcendental world, can a person be free. Kant considers “good will” as the highest principle of morality, which acts according to its own will, Kant calls this form of command an imperative. The German thinker raised the question of why the moral norms governing relations between people are of a universally binding nature and how they can be justified. He came to the conclusion that in every person there is one and the same a priori moral law.

One of Kant's greatest ideas is the idea of ​​the unconditional dignity of every person. The moral practical law or the law of the categorical imperative, according to Kant, is possible only if there is an absolute value, and this value is a person. Man is being as an end in itself, and this determines his practical actions, and only from this must all the laws of the will be derived. That's why categorical imperative commands: “Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, both in your own person and in the person of everyone else, as an end and never treat it only as a means”, which means: each person should not obey any goal according to the will of the subject. The second formulation of this law is related to the first: "Act in such a way that the maxim of your will can always be accepted as the basis of universal legislation." Following the moral law is the duty of a person, the desire for the implementation of such a duty is determined by his good will and controlled by conscience.

Feuerbach discovers in the generic essence of man the source of his growing power, ability for all-round development, improvement, and in it the root of the contradictory and dramatic nature of his being. In individual life, the finite and the infinite, egoistic aspirations and the desire for happiness for people, love for oneself and love for another, consciousness of one's limitations, insecurity, weakness and craving for the all-encompassing fullness of existence are combined. The gap between the desired greatness and the actual insignificance makes a person look for imaginary supports in religion. Religion is rooted in human nature, the circumstances of his life, needs: “... God is what a person needs for his existence... Need is the father of religion, imagination is the mother,” Feuerbach repeats after Democritus. Ignorance, deceit are not causes, but concomitant factors of the existence of religion. A person transfers his best forces, the need for reverence and love into the sphere of relation to the deity. The infinite or divine essence is the spiritual essence of man, which, however, is separated from man and presented as an independent being. Alienation occurs and human property passes to God. The poorer a person, Feuerbach notes, the richer God is. As a result, religion, giving consolation in suffering, fetters human nature, alienates people from each other, leaves them weak and unhappy. According to Feuerbach, a person's desire for happiness is innate, and therefore in his behavior he must be guided by the principle of reasonable egoism: striving for his own pleasure, at the same time be guided by love for another human being. Feuerbach considered it necessary to abandon traditional religions, from Christianity, to create new forms of relations between people. The abolition of religions will lead to an increase in the social activity of a person and, consequently, will contribute to the acquisition of freedom. And yet, since religion, from the point of view of the German thinker, binds people, a special religion should be introduced - the religion of love, a religion without God, based on the worship of love. Thanks to this, it will be possible to realize the formula "Man is God to man." Feuerbach calls for the return to man of his alienated essence. The belief that man is a higher being creates a new humanism. The ability of a person to respect and love in another “Divine You” is revealed. Not understanding the real world in which a person lives, Feuerbach also derives the principles of morality from the natural desire for happiness, the achievement of which is possible provided that each person reasonably limits his needs and treats other people with love. The morality constructed by Feuerbach is abstract, non-historical.

Sociology. Hegel considers history as "the progress of the spirit in the consciousness of freedom", which unfolds through the "spirit" of individual peoples, replacing each other in the historical process as they fulfill their mission. The idea of ​​objective regularity, which makes its way independently of the influence of individuals, found its false reflection in Hegel's teaching "On the cunning of the world mind", which uses individual interests and passions to achieve its goals.

According to the Hegelian philosophy of history, the development of mankind is a "progress in the awareness of freedom" and includes three stages. At each stage, the world mind is embodied in the spirit of certain peoples, it is they who make history. When such peoples fulfill their destiny, the world mind leaves them, and therefore they forever lose the opportunity to influence the development of mankind. There are three such stages in total.

Hegel believed that the development of the world spirit in society presupposes human activity. People's actions are determined by selfish interests and passions. However, it is with their help that the world mind achieves its own goals. Of particular importance in this respect is outstanding personalities(Alexander the Great, Caesar), whose motives have a character that allows them to carry out the most important goals of the world mind. Thus, people realize the laws of social development without realizing it. At the same time, history, according to Hegel, has a progressive character. He considered contemporary Prussia to be the pinnacle and final stage of social development.

So the classic German philosophy turned out to be the pinnacle and a kind of result of the development of the philosophical thought of the New Age. The concepts created within its framework, and especially the teachings of Hegel, offered a complete picture of the world, a systematic explanation of the existence and evolution of nature, society and thinking. Idealistic dialectics made it possible to present the world, based on spiritual foundations, as a developing integrity, in which there is nothing complete, frozen. A person turned out to be capable of infinite development, who was now considered as an autonomous person, an active subject constructing the world in his own way. cognitive activity and creating himself in moral activity.

RUSSIAN PHILOSOPHY

Immanuel Kant is the founder of German classical idealism. He lived all his life in the city of Königsberg (East Prussia, now Kaliningrad, Russian Federation), for many years he taught at the local university. The range of his scientific interests was not limited to purely philosophical problems. He proved himself as an outstanding natural scientist.

Kant's main works

• "The General Natural History and Theory of the Sky" (1755)
• "Critique of Pure Reason" (1781)
• "Critique of Practical Reason" (1788)
• "Critique of the Faculty of Judgment" (1790).

IN scientific activity Kant usually distinguish subcritical and critical periods. The pre-critical period of Kant's activity falls on the 50s and 60s of the 18th century. At this time, he was mainly engaged in the study of a number of natural science problems related to astronomy and biology. In 1755, his book “The General Natural History and Theory of the Sky” was published, which outlined his hypothesis of the origin of the solar system from the original incandescent dusty nebula (the so-called Kant-Laplace hypothesis). In this hypothesis, the entire ideological part belongs to Kant, and the mathematical assessment of the possibility of such a process and the stability of the emerging planetary system belongs to the French mathematician P. Laplace. This hypothesis existed in astronomy until the middle of the last century, when the modern concept of the "big bang" was at the disposal of cosmologists.

In the same period, Kant established that under the influence of the attraction of the Moon, the daily rotation of the Earth slows down, and, ultimately (in about 4-5 billion years according to modern concepts), this will lead to the fact that the Earth will forever turn one side to the Sun, and the other side of it will plunge into eternal darkness. Another important achievement of Kant of the pre-critical period is his hypothesis about the natural origin of human races (Caucasoids, Mongoloids and Negroids), which later received full confirmation.

During the critical period that began in the 1970s, Kant primarily focused on epistemological issues - on the study of the possibilities and abilities of man's knowledge of the world around him, and also conducted serious research in the field of ethics and aesthetics. Criticism in this period is understood as the establishment of boundaries to which the abilities of the mind and other forms of knowledge extend. Kant was not satisfied with the solution of epistemological problems either in the philosophical empiricism of modern times or in rationalism. The first is unable to explain the necessary nature of the laws and principles cognized by man, the second neglects the role of experience in cognition.

Kant's theory of knowledge

Apriorism. Solving the problem of substantiating scientific, including philosophical knowledge, Kant came to the conclusion that although all our knowledge begins with experience, moreover, none of our knowledge precedes experience in time, it does not follow from this that it entirely comes from experience. “It is quite possible that even our experiential knowledge is made up of what we perceive through impressions, and of what our cognitive faculty ... gives from itself.” In this regard, he distinguishes a priori knowledge (independent of any experience, preceding any specific experience) and empirical, a posteriori knowledge, the source of which is experience entirely. Examples of the former are the provisions of mathematics and many of the provisions of natural science. For example, the position that "every change must have a reason." A striking example of an a priori concept, according to Kant, is philosophical concept substance, to which we come speculatively, gradually excluding from the concept of the body "everything that is empirical in it: color, hardness or softness, weight, impenetrability ...".

Analytical and synthetic judgments. Synthetic a priori. Kant was well aware of traditional logic, in which a judgment (a logical form expressed in language by a declarative sentence) has always been considered the structural unit of thought. Each judgment has its own subject (subject of thought) and predicate (what is said in this judgment about its subject). In this case, the relation of the subject to the predicate can be twofold. In some cases, the content of the predicate is implied in the content of the subject; and the predicate of the judgment does not add to us any new knowledge about the subject, but only performs an explanatory function. Kant calls such judgments analytic, for example, the judgment that all bodies are extended. In other cases, the content of the predicate enriches the knowledge of the subject, and the predicate performs an expanding function in the judgment. Such judgments Kant calls synthetic, for example, the judgment that all bodies have gravity.

All empirical judgments are synthetic, but the opposite, says Kant, is not true. In his opinion, and this is the most important moment of Kant's philosophical teaching, there are synthetic a priori judgments in mathematics, natural science and metaphysics (ie, in philosophy and theology). And Kant formulates his main task in the Critique of Pure Reason, the main philosophical work, as follows: to answer the question, “How are a priori synthetic judgments possible?”

According to Kant, this is possible due to the fact that a priori (transcendental) forms of rational activity are present in our head. Namely, in mathematics, which is entirely a collection of synthetic a priori truths, there are a priori forms of space and time. “Geometry is based on the “pure” contemplation of space. Arithmetic creates the concepts of its numbers by successive additions of units in time; but especially pure mechanics can create its concepts of motion only through the representation of time. Here is how he argues for the synthetic nature of the elementary arithmetic truth that 7+5=12: “At first glance, it may seem that 7+5=12 is a purely analytic proposition following ... from the concept of the sum of seven and five. However, looking closer, we find that the concept of the sum of 7 and 5 contains only the combination of these two numbers into one, and from this it is not at all conceivable what the number that encompasses both terms is. The fact that 5 had to be added to 7, I, however, thought in terms of the sum = 7 + 5, but did not think that this sum is equal to twelve. Therefore, the given arithmetical proposition is always synthetic...”.

The use of four groups of philosophical categories (quality, quantity, relationship and modality) is associated with natural science: “... the mind does not draw its laws (a priori) from nature, but prescribes them to it ... This is how pure rational concepts appeared ... it is only they ... that can make up everything our knowledge of things from pure understanding. I called them, of course, the old name of the categories ... ". In metaphysics, the most important role is played by the ideas of the world ("cosmological idea"), the soul ("psychological idea") and God ("theological idea"): "Metaphysics deals with pure concepts of the mind, which are never given in any possible experience ... under by ideas I understand necessary concepts, the subject of which ... cannot be given in any experience. With his doctrine of synthetic a priori truths, Kant actually denies the existence in our head of purely empirical, experimental knowledge that is not "clouded" by any rational processing, and thereby shows the inconsistency of the forms of empiricism that existed in his time.

The doctrine of the "thing-in-itself". Kant believed that only the world of "phenomena" (appearances) is accessible to man in cognition. In particular, nature consists of phenomena and only of them. However, phenomena hide incomprehensible, inaccessible to knowledge, external to it (transcendent to it) “things-in-themselves”, as examples of which, among others, he uses the “world as a whole”, “soul”, “god” (as the unconditional cause of all causal phenomena). By affirming the unknowability of "things in themselves," Kant limited knowledge to one degree or another.

Kant's doctrine of antinomies

What, according to Kant, prevents the mind from going beyond the world of phenomena and reaching the “thing-in-itself”? The answer to this question should be sought in the features of the mind, which are revealed in the famous Kantian doctrine of antinomies. Antinomies are judgments that contradict each other (“thesis” and “antithesis”), in each pair of contradictory judgments one is a negation of the other, and at the same time the mind is not able to make a choice in favor of one of them. First of all, Kant points to the following four antinomies, in which our mind is hopelessly entangled as soon as it tries to go beyond the world of phenomena: “1. Thesis: The world has a beginning (boundary) in time and space. Antithesis: The world in time and space is infinite. 2. Thesis: Everything in the world consists of a simple (indivisible). Antithesis: Nothing is simple, everything is complex. 3. Thesis: There are free causes in the world. Antithesis: There is no freedom, everything is nature (i.e. necessity). 4. Thesis: Among the world's causes there is a certain necessary being (i.e. God - ed.). Antithesis: There is nothing necessary in this series, but everything is accidental. The history of philosophy has a significant number of antinomies (paradoxes), but all of them were of a logical nature, arose as a result of logical errors committed by the mind. Kantian antinomies, on the other hand, are epistemological, and not logical in nature - they, according to Kant, arise as a result of the unfounded claims of the mind to the knowledge of “things in themselves”, in particular, the world as such: “When we ... think of the phenomena of the sensually perceived world as things themselves by itself ... then suddenly a contradiction is revealed ... and the mind, therefore, sees itself in discord with itself.

Modern science provides vivid examples of the emergence of antinomies in the theoretical natural sciences in the sense of Kant, to overcome which a complete restructuring of the conceptual foundation of the corresponding theories is required. Such is the antinomy of the ether hypothesis in the special theory of relativity, the gravitational and photometric paradoxes in the general theory of relativity, "Maxwell's demons", etc.

The concept of reason and reason in Kant's philosophy

The most important role in the philosophical teachings of Kant is played by the concepts of reason and reason, rational and rational thinking. He brings the distinction between these concepts, which to a certain extent took place in the past with Aristotle (the distinction between theoretical and practical reason), among the philosophers of the Renaissance (N. Cusa and J. Bruno), to their opposition as thinking, subject to certain rules, canons and dogmatized in this sense, and creative thinking, going beyond any canons. “Man finds in himself a faculty by which he is distinguished, and this is reason. Reason is pure self-activity above even reason ... [which] by its activity can only form concepts that serve only to bring sensory representations under rules and thereby unite them in consciousness ... Reason, however, shows under the name of ideas such pure spontaneity that thanks to it, it goes far beyond everything that sensuality can give it, and performs its most important work by distinguishing the sensually perceived world from the intelligible, thereby showing the very mind its limits. A further step in the study of rational and rational thinking was made by G. Hegel, in whom the mind appears as a truly philosophical, dialectical thinking.

Ethics of Kant

Kant's doctrine of morality is set forth in the Critique of Practical Reason (1788), as well as in his work, published in 1797, The Metaphysics of Morals, where the Kantian ethical concept appears in a more rigorous and complete form.

The meaning of Kant's philosophy is that Kant is looking for clear arguments to substantiate scientific knowledge, philosophy, and the construction of a rational human life. This task seems to be the most difficult in the development of ethical doctrine, since the sphere of morality, human behavior contains many manifestations of subjectivism. Nevertheless, in order to streamline the problem of consciousness, Kant makes a brilliant attempt to formulate a moral law that would have an objective character. He makes the problem of the rationality of human life the subject of a special analysis - and this is reflected in his ethical concept.

Essence and specificity of practical reason

Kant in his philosophical system distinguishes between the concepts of theoretical and practical reason. As shown earlier, theoretical reason operates in the realm of pure ideas and exclusively within the framework of strict necessity. By practical reason, the philosopher understands the area of ​​human behavior in Everyday life, the world of his moral activity and actions. Here, practical reason can operate at the level of empirical experience, often going beyond strict necessity and enjoying freedom. As Kant points out, in the realm of practical reason, "we have expanded our knowledge beyond this sensible world, although the critique of pure reason has declared this claim invalid."

This becomes possible because man, according to Kant, belongs to both the sensually perceived (phenomenal) and the intelligible (noumenal) world. As a "phenomenon" a person is subject to necessity, external causality, the laws of nature, social attitudes, but as a "thing-in-itself" he can not obey such a rigid determination and act freely.

Showing the difference between pure, theoretical reason and practical reason, Kant insists on the primacy of practical reason over theoretical reason, since, in his opinion, knowledge has value only when it helps a person to acquire strong moral foundations. Thus, he shows that human mind capable not only of knowledge, but also of moral action, thereby morality rises to the level of action.

Kant points out that in previous ethical theories, morality was derived from principles external to it: the will of God, the moral attitudes of society, various empirical conditions - this Kant calls “heteronomy of will”. The novelty of his approach lies in the fact that practical reason determines the will autonomously; "autonomy" of morality means the fundamental independence and intrinsic value of moral principles. He writes: "The autonomy of the will consists in the fact that the will itself prescribes the law to itself - this is the only principle of the moral law." That is, for Kant, a person is not only a morally acting being, but also a person responsible for his actions.

Ethical categories of Kant

Kant believes that moral concepts are not derived from experience, they are a priori and embedded in the human mind. In his ethical concept, he explores the most important and most complex categories of morality: good will, freedom, duty, conscience, happiness, and others.

The initial concept of Kant's ethics is an autonomous good will, which he calls an unconditional good, as well as a value that surpasses any price. Good will is a prerequisite, foundation, motive for the theoretical and practical choice of a person in the field of morality. This is the free choice of man, the source of human dignity, which separates him as a person from other beings of the material world. But such freedom is also fraught with danger: the will of a person can be subordinated not only to reason, but also to feelings, therefore there can be no complete guarantee of the morality of actions. It is necessary to form morality in the process of education and self-education of a person, but since it is impossible to foresee everything in life, then, according to Kant, people can be instilled with an inclination and aspiration for goodness.

The philosopher calls the concept of freedom the key to explaining and understanding the autonomy of good will. But how is the freedom of a rational being possible in a world where necessity rules? Kant's concept of freedom is directly connected with the concept of duty. That is why, having first turned to theoretical reason and answered the question "What can I know?", the philosopher moves on to practical reason and raises the question "What should I do?". He comes to the conclusion that the free choice of a person is determined solely by the dictates of duty. "I must" for Kant means the same as "I am free." Man, as a being endowed with inner freedom, is a being capable of incurring obligations ... and can recognize a debt to himself. Therefore, only duty gives an action a moral character, only duty is the only moral motive.

The German philosopher explores in detail the concept of duty and considers different kinds duty of man: to himself and to other people. Among the main goals of a person, which at the same time represent his duty and are based on a priori principles, Kant singles out "one's own perfection and someone else's happiness." This is what the author of the Metaphysics of Morals insists on, since, for example, one’s own happiness can also be a goal, but by no means a person’s duty, because “duty is a coercion to a reluctantly accepted goal.” And happiness is what everyone inevitably wishes for himself. Achieving one's own happiness cannot be a duty, since this is not an ideal of the mind, but of the imagination, and the idea of ​​​​it is based not on a priori, but on empirical principles. Each person has many desires, but Kant asks himself: will their fulfillment lead to happiness? Another very difficult problem is the happiness of the other, because no one can force him to be happy and imagine what the other person understands by this. Despite all the complexity and delicacy of the approach to happiness as the most important ethical category, Kant nevertheless examines it in detail and, ultimately, connects happiness with the virtues of man.

But, referring to the question of man's own perfection, Kant is categorical - this is the goal and at the same time the duty of everyone. The perfection of man does not consist in what he has received as a gift from nature, but in what can be the result of his efforts and actions in accordance with reason. In this regard, the philosopher highlights two points: the desire for the physical perfection of man as a natural being and "an increase in one's moral perfection in a purely moral sense." Of course, a person must take care to get out of the primitiveness of his nature, out of the state of animality. These goals include: - self-preservation; - procreation, when passion is in unity with moral love, - maintenance of one's physical condition.

But for Kant, the absolute priority is moral perfection, "the culture of morality in us." He writes: “The greatest moral perfection of a person is this: to fulfill one’s duty, and, moreover, for reasons of duty (so that the law is not only a rule, but also a motive for actions).” This extremely important position of Kant's ethics requires from a person not only a moral act, but a moral motive for action, because a person can do a “good deed”, for example, for reasons of his own benefit, or based on immoral grounds. Speaking about a person's duty to himself as a moral being, Kant contrasts it with the vices of lies, stinginess, and servility. At the same time, he formulates the main principle of a person’s relationship to himself: know yourself not by your physical perfection, but by moral perfection, because moral self-knowledge, penetrating into the depths, “abysses” of the heart, is the beginning of all human wisdom.

As for the duties of a person to other people, Kant also highlights mutual obligations: love, friendship, and those that contribute to the happiness of others, but do not require reciprocity - the duty of charity, gratitude, participation, respect. At the same time, the philosopher emphasizes that, ultimately, the duty to other people is the duty of a person to himself, the fulfillment of which helps to move towards his own perfection. Such a gradual, progressive movement towards perfection is the most perfect duty of a person to himself, and, as a commandment, Kant repeats: "Be perfect!"

The categorical imperative as a moral law

On the basis of a critical analysis of human cognition and behavior, Kant tries to find the law of morality subordinated to reason. He believes that in human life, in any case, the mind sets goals, and here it is not subject to such contradictions as in the field of theory. At the same time, in the sphere of practical reason, ordinary reason can also come to “correctness and thoroughness”: in order to be honest, kind, wise and virtuous, “we do not need any science and philosophy.” If the mind and feelings are in harmony, then there is no conflict between them, otherwise a person should give preference to the mind. According to Kant, to act morally means to act reasonably, albeit sometimes under the compulsion of the will. Therefore, the principles of human behavior are never determined empirically, but are always based on the activity of the mind, exist a priori and do not depend on experimental data.

The creation of reasonable human relations is possible on the basis of duties, the duty of a person to fulfill the moral law, which is valid for every individual under any circumstances. Along with general practical principles, as Kant points out, there are always many particular rules, so he divides practical principles into "maxims" and "imperatives".

Maxims are personal, subjective principles of behavior, that is, those considerations or motives that induce a person to act, and relate to specific individuals. For example, the maxim “avenge every insult inflicted” can be implemented in different ways depending on a variety of objective and subjective conditions. Or the duty of a person to take care of his own health may involve various ways of achieving this goal.

Imperative is an objective principle of behavior, a moral law that is significant for everyone. Kant identifies two types of imperatives: hypothetical and categorical. He writes: “If an act is good for something else as a means, then we are dealing with a hypothetical imperative; if it is presented as good in itself…then the imperative is categorical.”

The hypothetical imperative defines the will in the presence of certain goals: for example, "if you want to succeed, work hard to learn," or "if you want to become a champion, pump up your muscles," "if you want a carefree old age, learn to save." These imperatives have objective force for all those who are interested in precisely these purposes, exceptions are possible in their application.

Categorical imperative- this is an objective, universal, unconditional, necessary moral law, and to fulfill it is the duty of every person without exception. This law is the same for everyone, but Kant gives it in his works in several formulations. One of them says that although maxims are subjective principles of behavior, they, too, must always have a universal meaning. In this case, the categorical imperative sounds like this: "act only according to such a maxim, guided by which, at the same time, you can wish it to become a universal law." Another wording is connected with Kant's idea of ​​the human person as an absolute and unconditional value above all else: “act in such a way that you always treat humanity, both in your own person and in the person of everyone else, as an end and never treat it only as a means."

To act in accordance with these laws is the duty of man and the guarantee of the morality of his actions. But besides this objective principle, Kant also explores another criterion of morality that exists in every person - this is conscience. Conscience is something that cannot be acquired, it is “the original intellectual and moral inclinations”, this is an inevitable fact. It is sometimes said that a person has no conscience, but this does not mean its absence, but indicates a tendency to "not pay attention to its judgments." Kant characterizes conscience as an "internal judge", "consciousness of an internal judgment in a person". The mechanism of conscience eliminates the duality of a person who belongs to both the phenomenal and the intelligible world. Kant argues that it is impossible to understand everything correctly, but to act unrighteously; compromises are impossible with conscience, sooner or later you will have to answer to it for your actions.

With all the severity and unambiguity of the formulation of the moral law, Kant certainly understands the difficulties of its implementation. For example, the duty of a person not to lie or not to steal in a real situation can be difficult to fulfill: for example, lying out of philanthropy or stealing a piece of bread by a person dying of hunger. All this is possible in life, and Kant considers these contradictions in his works, introducing peculiar additions, which he calls "casuistic questions." He comes to the conclusion that in such situations one should never pass off one's act as moral, and always be precise in definitions - morality is morality, law is law. Since morality is unconditional, it is universal legislation, there are no, and cannot be, cases of morally justified deviation from it.

Despite such a rational approach to the problem of morality, the philosopher recognizes that man remains the greatest mystery of the universe, and in the conclusion of the Critique of Practical Reason he writes: “Two things always fill the soul with new and stronger surprise and awe, the more often and longer we think about them - this is the starry sky above me and the moral law in me.

In the doctrine of morality, Kant:

• created a deep, interesting ethical theory based on scientific generalization and respect for moral consciousness
• substantiated the thesis of the autonomy of morality, which is valuable in itself and is a law, and is not derived from principles external to it
• proposed a theoretical basis for organizing the rational life of a person, formulating a moral law that is mandatory for every rational being
• substantiated in a new way the principle of self-worth of each person, which under no circumstances can be a means to achieve any goals whatsoever
• emphasized the importance of the relationship between morality and scientific knowledge based on the unity of practical and theoretical reason

Socio-political views

The Great French Revolution and the ideas of the English and French Enlightenment had a huge impact on Kant's socio-political views. Following Rousseau, Kant develops the idea of ​​popular sovereignty, which, in his opinion, is in fact unrealistic and can threaten the state with the danger of destruction. Therefore, the will of the people must remain subordinate to the existing government, and changes in the state structure "can be made only by the sovereign itself through reform, and not by the people through revolution." At the same time, Kant is a resolute opponent of oppression and tyranny; he believes that the despot must be overthrown, but only by legal means. For example, public opinion may refuse to support a tyrant and, being in moral isolation, he will be forced to comply with laws or reform them in favor of the people.

Kant's views on socio-historical progress are determined by the fact that a necessary condition for its achievement is an understanding of the contradictory nature of the historical process itself. The essence of this contradiction lies in the fact that people, on the one hand, tend to live in society, and on the other hand, due to their not very perfect nature and ill will, they tend to oppose each other, threatening society with disintegration. According to Kant, without this antagonism and the suffering and disaster associated with it, no development would be possible. But the movement in this direction, although very slow and gradual, will still continue as the morals of man improve.

Certainly, Kant's ideas about war and peace are relevant. He devotes to this problem the treatise “Towards Eternal Peace” (1795), the very title of which contains an ambiguity: either the cessation of wars by an international treaty, or eternal peace “in the giant cemetery of mankind” after the war of extermination. Kant believes that humanity is always moving towards peace through the disasters of wars, and in order to prevent this from happening, he considers it extremely important and responsible to establish universal peace on earth and justifies the inevitability of this. The philosopher puts forward the idea of ​​such an international agreement, in which, for example: - not a single peace treaty can contain the hidden possibility of a new war; - standing armies should eventually disappear; - no state has the right to forcibly interfere in the political structure and rule of another state. In many ways, these ideas should be implemented by politicians, to whom Kant also gives advice. And here the philosopher tries to combine politics with morality: one can either adapt morality to the interests of politics (“political moralist”), or subordinate politics to morality (“moral politician”). Of course, the ideal is the "moral politician" "who establishes the principles of state wisdom that are compatible with morality, but not the political moralist who forges a morality aimed at the benefit of the statesman."

In his socio-political views, Kant acts as a cautious optimist, believing that society, through the moral improvement of people, will inevitably move towards its ideal state - a world without wars and upheavals.

All of Kant's work is devoted to the justification of how each person, society, the world can become better, more reasonable and more humane. The idea of ​​morality permeates all types of human spiritual activity: science, philosophy, art, religion. The greatest optimism exudes Kant's confidence that the world can become the better, the more reasonable and moral every person on earth is, regardless of his occupation.

Aesthetics of Kant

In 1790, the third great book Kant - "Critique of the ability of judgment", in the first part of which Kant considers the following aesthetic problems and categories: beautiful; sublime; aesthetic perception; ideal of beauty, artistic creativity; aesthetic idea; relationship between the aesthetic and the moral. Kant comes to aesthetics, trying to resolve the contradiction in his philosophical teaching between the world of nature and the world of freedom: “there must be a basis for the unity of the supersensible, underlying nature, with what practically contains the concept of freedom.” Thanks to a new approach, Kant created an aesthetic teaching, which became one of the most significant phenomena in the history of aesthetics.

The main problem of aesthetics is the question of what is beautiful (beauty is usually understood as the highest form of beauty). Philosophers before Kant defined the beautiful as a property of the object of perception, Kant comes to the definition of this category through a critical analysis of the ability to perceive beauty, or the ability to judge taste. “Taste is the ability to judge beauty.” “In order to determine whether something is beautiful or not, we relate the representation not to the object of knowledge through the understanding for the sake of knowledge, but to the subject and his feeling of pleasure or displeasure.” Kant emphasizes the sensual, subjective and personal nature of the evaluation of the beautiful, but the main task of his criticism is to discover a universal, that is, a priori criterion for such an evaluation.

Kant distinguishes the following distinctive features of the judgment of taste:

• The judgment of taste is the ability to judge an object “on the basis of pleasure or displeasure, free from all interest. The object of such pleasure is called beautiful. Kant contrasts the judgment of taste with the pleasure of the pleasant and the pleasure of the good. Pleasure from the pleasant is only a sensation and depends on the object that causes this feeling. Each person has his own pleasure (for example, color, smell, sounds, taste). “In relation to the pleasant, the fundamental principle is valid: everyone has his own taste.” The pleasure of good things is significant for everyone, because it depends on the concept of moral value subject. Both types of pleasure are associated with the idea of ​​the existence of the object that caused them. The beautiful is pleasing in itself, it is a disinterested, contemplative pleasure that has its basis in the state of the soul. For the judgment of taste, it is completely indifferent whether an object is useful, valuable or pleasant, the question is only whether it is beautiful. Every interest affects our judgment and does not allow it to be free (or pure judgment of taste).
• If pleasure is free from all personal interest, then it claims to be valid for everyone. In this case, it cannot be said that everyone has his own particular taste, “not pleasure, but precisely the universal validity of this pleasure ... a priori appears in the judgment of taste as a general rule.” But the foundation of the universality of the judgment of taste is not the concept. “If objects are judged only by concepts, any idea of ​​beauty is lost. Therefore, there can be no rule by which everyone can be forced to recognize something as beautiful. What is the a priori basis for the necessity and universality of pleasure from the beautiful? Kant believes that this is harmony in the free play of spiritual forces: imagination and reason.
• Harmony in the free play of imagination and reason, causing a feeling of pleasure from the beautiful, corresponds to the form of the expediency of the object (expediency is the harmonious connection of parts and the whole). The content and material of the subject are concomitant, not determining factors. Therefore, a pure judgment of taste can be evoked in us, for example, by flowers or non-objective patterns (if no extraneous interest is mixed in with them). In painting, for example, from this point of view, the main role, according to Kant, is played by drawing, and in music, composition.

This point of view makes sense only within the framework of the analysis of the judgment of taste, through which Kant seeks to reveal the distinctive features of the judgment of taste. In the doctrine of the sublime, the ideal of beauty, art, the philosopher shows the connection between the judgment of taste and other aspects of a person's relationship to the world.

Judgments about the ideal of beauty cannot be pure judgments of taste. One cannot imagine the ideal of beautiful flowers, beautiful furnishings, beautiful scenery. Only that which has the purpose of its existence in itself, namely, man can be the ideal of beauty. But such an ideal is always connected with moral ideas.

Kant formulated the antinomy of taste “Tastes are not disputed, and tastes are disputed” and showed how it is resolved. "Everyone has his own taste" - such an argument is often defended from reproach by people devoid of taste. On the one hand, the judgment of taste is not based on concepts, "taste claims only autonomy", so it cannot be argued about. But, on the other hand, the judgment of taste has a universal basis, so one can argue about it. The antinomy of taste would be insoluble if by "beautiful" in the first thesis one understood "pleasant" and in the second - "good". But both of these points of view on the beautiful were rejected by Kant. In his teaching, the judgment of taste is a dialectical unity of the subjective and the objective, the individual and the universal, the autonomous and the generally valid, the sensuous and the supersensible. Thanks to this understanding, both positions of the antinomy of taste can be considered true.

Unlike the beautiful, an object of nature associated with the form, the sublime deals with the formless, which goes beyond the limits of measure. This phenomenon of nature causes displeasure. Therefore, the basis of pleasure from the sublime is not nature, but reason, which expands the imagination to the consciousness of the superiority of man over nature. Natural phenomena (thunder, lightning, storm, mountains, volcanoes, waterfalls, etc.) or social life(for example, war) are called sublime not in themselves, but "because they increase mental strength beyond the usual and allow us to discover in ourselves a completely different kind of resistance, which gives us the courage to measure our strength with the apparent omnipotence of nature."

Kant defines art through comparison with nature, science and craft. "Beauty in nature is a beautiful thing, and beauty in art is a beautiful representation of a thing." Art differs from nature in that it is a work of man. But art is art if it appears to us as nature. Art differs from science in the same way that skill differs from knowledge. Unlike craft, it is a free activity that is enjoyable in itself, and not for the sake of the result. Kant divides the arts into pleasant and graceful. The aim of the first is the pleasant, the aim of the second is the beautiful. The measure of pleasure in the first case is only the sensations, in the second - the judgment of taste.

Kant attaches great importance to the problem artistic creativity. For this he uses the term "genius". In Kant's philosophy, this term has a specific meaning. This is the name of the special innate talent of a person, thanks to which he can create works of art. Since Kant considers art to be an important means of penetrating the world of the supersensible, he defends the freedom of artistic creation. Through the genius, "nature gives the rule to art", and not the world to the genius.

1. The main property of a genius should be originality. 2. But nonsense can also be original. The works of genius, not being imitations, should themselves be models, a rule of evaluation. 3. The creative activity of a genius cannot be explained. 4. Nature prescribes a rule through a genius to art, and not to science, "in which well-known rules should come first and determine the mode of action in it" (the field of science in Kant's philosophy is limited to the field of the world of phenomena).

The main ability of a genius is such a ratio of imagination and reason, which makes it possible to create aesthetic ideas. Under the aesthetic idea, Kant understands “that representation of the imagination, which gives rise to a lot of thinking, and, however, no definite thought, i.e. no concept can be adequate to it and, consequently, no language can fully reach it and make it understandable. In the doctrine of art, Kant understands form as a means of expressing an aesthetic idea. Therefore, in his classification of art, he puts in the first place not non-objective art, but poetry, which "aesthetically rises to ideas."

In his aesthetics, Kant shows how the beautiful differs from the moral, and then reveals the nature of the connection between these aspects of a person’s spiritual life: “The beautiful is a symbol of morality.” That's the only reason why everyone likes beauty. When meeting with the beautiful, the soul feels a certain ennoblement and elevation above the susceptibility to sensory impressions. Since “taste is in essence the ability to judge the sensual embodiment of moral ideas,” then the development of moral ideas and the culture of moral feeling serve the education of taste.

Aesthetics plays an important role in the philosophy of Kant, who is looking for an answer to the most important philosophical question - "what one must be in order to be a person." All Kant's aesthetic ideas are so deep and interesting that they are the subject of careful study at the present time. They do not lose their relevance as society develops. Moreover, their relevance is increasing, revealing themselves in new interesting and important aspects for us.

Kant's philosophy undoubtedly had a beneficial effect on the subsequent development of philosophy, primarily German classical philosophy. The connection between philosophy and philosophy discovered by Kant turned out to be extremely fruitful. modern science, the desire to understand the forms and methods of theoretical thinking within the framework of logic and the theory of knowledge, to explore the cognitive role of philosophical categories, to reveal the dialectical inconsistency of the mind. His undoubted merit is a high assessment of moral duty, a look at aesthetics as a branch of philosophy that removes the contradiction between theoretical and practical reason, an indication of ways to get rid of wars as a means of resolving conflicts between states.

I am close to Kant's views on the nature of human relations, on the place of man in the world around him. Kant's philosophy itself is deeply human. And as a medical worker working with people, and even more so with sick people, it will be useful for me to know philosophical approaches great philosopher, his views, which have not lost their significance at the present time

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PLAN

I. Kant INTRODUCTION MAIN PART 1. Periods of creativity of Immanuel Kant. 2. The beginning of Kant's life path. Student years. 3. The period of teaching, the main works written during this period. 4. Defense of the master's thesis and further philosophical work. 5. The turning point in Kant's work. 6. Kant's professorial dissertation and its significance in world philosophy. 7. The main ideas of the Critique of Pure Reason. 8. Originality philosophical ideas Kant in the 17th century. 9. Kant and the philosophy of history. 10. Philosopher's views on ethics. 11. New fracture in philosophical views Kant in the late 80s of the XVIII century. 12. The end of the creative path. CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY

The most important item in the world -

this is a man, because he is for himself -

its final target. Human right

I. Kant

INTRODUCTION

Kant is called "the founder of German classical philosophy" . His works laid the foundations of European spiritual development. For Kant, the problem of man is in the first place, and the main theme for him is man. He thought about the laws of being and consciousness with only one goal: to make a person more humane. Kant's ideas have undergone a transformation, but they continue to live. They are especially relevant at this stage in the development of human society - during the period of humanization of all branches of natural science and the humanities, including philosophy.

The study of Kant's philosophical heritage is complicated by the multiplicity and variety of sources of information about his life and work.

In order to form a correct idea of ​​the character, habits of the philosopher, it is also important to examine the relevant evidence of his contemporaries that has survived to the present day. Thus, it is necessary to carefully study many other sources (notes, rough sketches, unfinished works) that have come down to the modern reader sources that contain information about his life and creative path.

All his conscious years Kant searched for truth. But truth is a process. The philosopher has never had the feeling that the absolute has been attained. Kant improved, clarified, polished his teaching. His life is an unceasing spiritual development, an eternal search, up to recent years when the thought got out of his control.

I am close to Kant's views on the nature of human relations, on the place of man in the world around him. Kant's philosophy itself is deeply human. And as a medical worker working with people, and even more so with sick people, it will be useful for me to know the philosophical approaches of the great philosopher, his views, which have not lost their significance even now. I believe it will be useful in my professional work.

MAIN PART

1. Periods of creativity of Immanuel Kant.

Kant's creative path is usually divided into two periods. Different researchers define the boundary between them in different ways. Kant's transition from one stage to another occurred gradually, through long and often painful spiritual quests.

The first stage is the so-called "subcritical" or "dogmatic". During this period, the philosopher put forward a number of important hypotheses, including the "nebular" cosmogonic hypothesis, according to which the emergence and evolution of the solar system is derived from the existence of the "original nebula". In the philosophical works of this period, Kant tries to substantiate the idea of ​​the absolute perfection of our world. During this period, Kant thinks like a dogmatist, exaggerating the role of formal deductive methods of thinking, in comparison with experimental knowledge.

The second stage is the so-called "critical".In the works of this period, the main attention of the philosopher focused on a critical analysis of human cognitive abilities, on the development of an appropriate theory of knowledge. During this period, he gives great importance use of empirical knowledge in philosophy.

2. The beginning of Kant's life path. Student years.

Immanuel Kant was born on April 22, 1724 in the city of Konigsberg in the family of a saddler Johann Georg Kant. In 1730 Kant entered primary school, and in 1732 the boy was sent to the state church gymnasium - "Friedrich's College", to the Latin department. The main subjects at the gymnasium were Latin and theology. Thanks to natural abilities and diligence, Kant was one of the best students in the gymnasium. In the gymnasium, Kant became interested in ancient poetry, as well as philology.

At the age of 16, Kant entered the University of Königsberg. It is still unknown exactly at which faculty he studied. There were four faculties at the university, three of them: theological, medical and legal were classified as "higher", and philosophical - as "lower". Probably, Kant studied at the medical faculty. Gymnasium passion for philology was replaced by an interest in physics and philosophy. Kant wrote his first work for three years - from 1743 to 1746. It was called "Thoughts about the true assessment of living forces." The work contained arguments about the connection between the three-dimensionality of space and the law of universal gravitation. "Thoughts ..." were published from 1746 to 1749. Already in this work appeared characteristic his whole philosophy - a combination of an uncompromising desire for truth with a penchant for reasonable compromises, when there are two extreme points of view.

3. The period of teaching, the main works written during this period.

In 1747, without defending his master's thesis, Kant left Koenigsberg for the first time.. In a remote province, the philosopher tries himself as a home teacher, where Kant acquired pedagogical skills and went through a school of everyday experience. During this period, Kant wrote a manuscript on astronomy "Cosmogony or an attempt to explain the origin of the universe, the formation celestial bodies and the reasons for their movement by the general laws of the development of matter in accordance with Newton's theory" . The article was written on a competition topic proposed by the Prussian Academy of Sciences, but the young scientist did not dare to take part in the competition. The article was published only in 1754 after Kant's return to Konigsberg. Somewhat later, at the end of the summer of 1754, Kant published a second article, also devoted to questions of cosmogony - "The question of whether the Earth is aging from a physical point of view." These two articles were, as it were, a prelude to the cosmogonic treatise, which was soon written. Its final title was "The General Natural History and Theory of the Sky, or an Attempt to interpret the Structure and Mechanistic Origin of the Whole Universe in terms of Newton's Principles". The work is a kind of attempt to combine the inquisitiveness of a naturalist with the dogmas of the church familiar from childhood. Starting to present the cosmogonic system, Kant is concerned with one thing: how to harmonize it with belief in God. The philosopher is convinced that there is no contradiction between his hypothesis and traditional religious (Christian) beliefs. Kant believed that the initial state of nature was the general dispersion of primary matter, atoms. He showed how, under the influence of purely mechanical causes, our solar system could form from the initial chaos of material particles. Thus, the philosopher denied the role of the "architect of the universe" behind God. However, he still saw in him the creator of that initially scattered substance from which (according to the laws of mechanics) the present universe arose. The problem that Kant could not solve in a natural scientific way was the problem of the origin of organic nature. The philosopher admitted that the laws of mechanics are not enough to understand the essence of life. Naturally, he also explained the emergence of living nature by the existence and activity of God.

4. Defense of the master's thesis and further philosophical work.

On April 17, 1755, Kant submitted his master's thesis "On Fire" to the Faculty of Philosophy and four weeks later passed the oral master's examination. On June 12, 1755, a solemn act of raising the young philosopher to a scientific degree took place at the University of Königsberg. But in order to get the right to lecture, Kant had to undergo habilitation (as the defense of a special dissertation in a public debate was called). Kant's new dissertation was called "A New Elucidation of the First Principles of Metaphysical Knowledge". Having defended it, the scientist receives the title of Privatdozent, i.e. freelance teacher, whose work was paid by the students themselves. During his first university winter, Kant read logic, mathematics, metaphysics, and natural science. Then physical geography, ethics and mechanics were added to them. At that time, a cult of narrow specialization was not created, and the future philosopher was able to fully demonstrate his versatile knowledge. His lectures were always a hit with the students.

The first philosophical work was a habilitation thesis "New coverage of the first principles of metaphysical knowledge". In it, Kant explores the principle of sufficient reason established by Leibniz. He distinguishes between the basis of the being of an object and the basis of its knowledge, the real and logical basis. These reasonings of Kant contain the germ of the future dualism: the world of real things and the world of our knowledge are not identical. The philosopher correlates the principle of sufficient reason with human behavior. Thus, in this dissertation, for the first time, the problem of freedom arises, which in the future will become the leitmotif of all Kant's work. He believes that the idea of ​​a defining reason is not contrary to freedom. He understands freedom as a conscious determination of an act, as an attachment to the will of the motives of reason. In the future, developing this idea, the philosopher will come to the conclusion that a person cannot rely only on his instincts, since all of them are rigidly determined by nature, and to act in accordance with them means to remain an animal. As for the harmony of being and its universal striving for the good, he still does not doubt it.

5. The turning point in Kant's work.

1762 was a turning point for the philosopher . It is generally accepted that the most important role in Kant's new searches, which later led to the creation of his critical philosophy, played an acquaintance with the work of Jean-Jacques-Rousseau. On the eve of the winter semester of 1762, Kant issued, as before, a pamphlet - an invitation to lectures. In the previous ones, mainly natural scientific problems were treated, this time a philosophical question was taken for consideration. The pamphlet was called "False sophistication in the four figures of the syllogism" and contained the first attempt at criticism of formal logic. In this work, Kant seriously thinks about how to introduce empirical knowledge into philosophy. The work "An Inquiry into the Evidence of the Principles of Natural Theology and Morality", also written in 1762, is devoted to the same problems. In this work, comparing philosophy with mathematics, Kant speaks of the qualitative diversity of the objects of the former in comparison with the objects of the latter. Analyzing this problem, the scientist comes to the conclusion that true philosophy has not yet been written. . Real philosophy, in his opinion, should assimilate the method that Newton introduced into natural science and which brought such fruitful results there. Therefore, it is necessary, relying on reliable data of experience, to find universal laws. The experience on which philosophy must rely is not only the evidence of the senses, but also "inner experience", directly obvious consciousness. From the point of view of the philosopher, thanks to the latter, the knowledge of God becomes very reliable. In this work, Kant expresses what is important for his further philosophical development consideration: one must not confuse truth and goodness, knowledge and moral feeling. The coming philosophical revolution is also foreshadowed by the ideas that Kant expresses in the treatise "The Experience of Introducing the Concept of Negative Values ​​into Philosophy" . The thinker's attention is attracted by the problem of the unity of opposites. The starting point of the reasoning is the difference established in the habilitation dissertation between the logical and real foundations. Kant points out that what is true for logic may not be true for reality. The logical opposition consists in the fact that, regarding the same thing, a statement is either affirmed or denied, one cancels the other, as a result of which nothing is obtained. The other is the real opposite, which stands in the opposite direction of forces. Here, too, one cancels out the other, but the result will be something really existing.

From the point of view of Kant, neither on our own nor on the experience of others, we can not be convinced of the existence of God. It remains for the researcher to rely on reason: only the system of reasoning (Kant cites it in his work) leads to the conclusion that there is some higher, absolute and necessary being in the world. However, the question arises: does such an attitude towards religion undermine the foundations of morality? Kant says morality and religion are two different things.. Morality is more universal, human than divine judgment. When educating, one must first awaken a moral sense, and then instill the concept of a deity, otherwise religion will turn into a prejudice, and a cunning, hypocrite will grow up. The culture of moral feeling must precede the culture of obedience. From these arguments, the philosopher derives the basic law of human behavior - "act in accordance with your moral nature."

By the end of the 60s of the XVIII century, Kant became known not only in Prussia . Thus, in 1769, Professor Hausen from Halle intends to publish Biographies of Famous Philosophers and Historians of the 18th Century in Germany and Beyond. Kant is included in the collection, and the author turns to him for the necessary materials.

6. Kant's professorial dissertation and its significance in world philosophy.

Kant's professorial dissertation was entitled "On the Form and Principles of the Sensibly Perceived and Intelligible World." It recorded a new "coup" in the views of the author. The empirical position, which reached the point of skepticism, was replaced by a peculiar dualism in views. Kant no longer cares about the question of how the data of the sense organs are connected with the intellect - he separated these two types of spiritual activity in different directions. “The sources of all our ideas,” the work says, “either sensibility, or reason and reason. The former give us the causes of knowledge, expressing the relationship of the object to the special properties of the knowing subject ... The latter relate to the objects themselves”. Sensuality, from the point of view of Kant, deals with phenomena, phenomena; intelligible, i.e. intelligible, he calls the object noumenon. The world, considered as a phenomenon, exists in time and space. But time and space are not something that exists in itself, they are just subjective conditions inherent in the human mind for coordinating sensually perceived objects with each other. In the noumenal world, i.e. in the sphere of objects in themselves, there is no time and space. Until recently, Kant urged science to rely solely on experience, now he has another concern - to warn her against overestimating experience. The philosopher realizes that the principles of sensory knowledge should not go beyond their limits and touch the sphere of reason. Later he would clarify his thought: "in a purely empirical wandering without a guiding principle, according to which one should seek, one can never find anything expedient".

7. The main ideas of the Critique of Pure Reason.

Let us now acquaint ourselves with some of the main ideas of the Critique of Pure Reason. All knowledge, according to Kant, begins with experience, but is not limited to it.. Part of our knowledge is generated by the cognitive ability itself, and is, in the words of the philosopher, "a priori" (pre-experimental) character. Empirical knowledge is singular, and therefore accidental; a priori - universal and necessary. Kant's apriorism differs from the idealist doctrine of innate ideas. Firstly, by the fact that, according to Kant, only forms of knowledge are pre-experimented, and its content comes entirely from experience. Secondly, the pre-experimental forms themselves are not innate, but have their own history. The real meaning of Kant's apriorism lies in the fact that an individual who begins to cognize has at his disposal certain forms of cognition that have developed before him. If you look at knowledge from the point of view of its original origin, then its entire volume is ultimately taken from the ever-expanding experience of mankind. Another thing is that, along with direct experience, there is indirect (assimilated) experience. Kant further distinguishes between analytic and synthetic judgments. The former are explanatory in nature, while the latter expand our knowledge. All experiential, empirical judgments are synthetic. It is obvious. The question is, are a priori synthetic judgments possible? This is the main question of the Critique of Pure Reason. . Kant does not doubt that they exist, otherwise scientific knowledge would not be obligatory for everyone. The problem is to explain their origin. The main question of the work - how pure, inexperienced knowledge is possible - falls into three. How is mathematics possible? How is natural science possible? How is metaphysics possible as a science? Hence the three sections of the main part of the Critique...: transcendental aesthetics, analytics, dialectics. (The second and third sections together form the transcendental logic). Kant calls his philosophy transcendental because it studies the transition to the system of knowledge of the conditions of experience through the cognitive ability. Kant opposes the transcendental to the transcendental, which remains outside the limits of possible experience, on the other side of cognition. Here we touch upon an important problem of Kant's teaching, which he poses on the very first pages of his work. The point is that the experimental data coming to us from outside do not give us adequate knowledge about the world around us. A priori forms ensure the universality of knowledge, but do not make it a copy of things. What a thing is for us (phenomenon) and what it represents in itself (noumenon) has a fundamental difference. Kant considers things inaccessible to any understanding, transcendent. No matter how much we penetrate into the depths of phenomena, our knowledge will still differ from things as they really are, and no matter how much our knowledge increases, their boundaries cannot disappear. Kant is also tormented by the question of truth, but he understands the impossibility of an unequivocal answer to it. One can, of course, say that truth is the correspondence of knowledge to the subject, and the author says this repeatedly, but he knows that these words are a tautology. A correctly formulated question about truth, according to Kant, should sound like this: how to find a universal criterion of truth for any knowledge? Kant's answer: the universal sign of truth "cannot be given" . However, the philosopher rejected the universal criterion only regarding the content of knowledge. As for their form, he knows such a criterion: the consistency of reasoning. He understands that the prohibition of contradiction is "only a negative criterion of truth," but guided by it, one can still build solid structures of science. An important place in the philosophical constructions of Kant is assigned to the category of knowledge. One of the parts of knowledge is sensory knowledge. According to Kant, there are two a priori, pre-experimental forms of sensibility - space and time. Space systematizes external sensations, time internal. The philosopher did not deny the empirical reality of space and time. His view of space and time was, to a certain extent, a reaction to mechanistic ideas about absolute duration and the empty receptacle of things not associated with it. Kant considers time and space in mutual connection, but this connection is realized only in the cognizing subject. Outside of man, in the world of things in themselves, other types of coexistence and sequence are possible. The indisputable achievement of Kant's theory of knowledge was a new look at the relationship between contemplation and intellect. .

8. The originality of Kant's philosophical ideas in the 17th century.

In the 17th century, two opposing trends in the theory of knowledge competed - sensationalism and rationalism.. Sensualists believed that sensory knowledge plays the main role, rationalists, accordingly, preferred intellect. . Neither school saw a fundamental difference between the two types of knowledge. Kant emphasized the irreducibility of one "stem of knowledge" to another. Scientific knowledge, in his opinion, is a synthesis of sensibility and reason. The main thing in Kant's epistemology is the idea of ​​the activity of cognition. It was in her that the philosopher saw his main merit. All pre-Kantian philosophy considered the human intellect as a passive receptacle of ideas that come there either naturally or supernaturally.. The new thing, on which Kant categorically insisted, was the recognition of the active role of human consciousness. The philosopher's doctrine of the activity of consciousness helped him explain one of the most mysterious processes - the formation of concepts. Kant sees in the human intellect a pre-built construction - categories, but this is not yet scientific knowledge itself, this is only its possibility, the same possibility is represented by experimental data. In order for the concept to arise on the basis of these possibilities, "productive imagination" is required. The work unequivocally expresses the idea of ​​the unconscious, moreover, active, creative principle. The author speaks of "spontaneity of thought". Reason, thanks to productive imagination, itself spontaneously, that is, spontaneously, in addition to conscious control, creates its own concepts. Productive imagination is a working tool for the synthesis of sensibility and reason. This is one of the central ideas of the Critique of Pure Reason. The active principle in the intellect, which Kant called the productive imagination, is a kind of intuition. In addition to the formation of concepts, intuition is needed in another important matter - in their use. The scientist must not only have a set general rules, laws, principles, but also be able to apply them in specific, individual circumstances. Kant calls this intuitive skill the faculty of judgment.. Thus, intuition accompanies cognition as it moves in any direction: when abstractions arise, and when these abstractions are applied in specific situations. In the first case, the productive imagination operates, in the second, the faculty of judgment. Without them, the functioning of the mind is impossible. The philosopher also describes other types of intuition, in its modern sense - the work deals with artistic and moral intuition. In addition to reason and the intuitive ability to judge, Kant names another sphere of intellectual activity, its highest form - reason. In the broad sense of the word, reason for the philosopher is equivalent to everything logical thinking. Reason is the highest control and guiding authority, and, unlike reason, which is the realm of science, it is the realm of philosophy and dialectics. According to Kant, dialectics is the logic of visibility. The fact is that the mind has the ability to create illusions, to take what seems to be real. The task of criticism is to bring clarity. The difficulties of the mind are connected with the fact that it does not deal with scientific concepts (the realm of reason), but with ideas. An idea is a concept to which an adequate object cannot be given in contemplation. Reason is directly directed not to experience, but to reason, preparing a field for its activity. Reason works out basic propositions, general principles, which reason and the faculty of judgment apply to particular cases. It performs a control function in cognition, it directs the mind to a specific goal, sets tasks for it. (The function of reason is constitutive, that is, constructive, it creates concepts). The mind purifies and systematizes knowledge. It is thanks to him that theories go into practice, ideas regulate not only our knowledge, but also our behavior. In the theoretical sphere the role of ideas is great. Reason brings the rational categorical synthesis to the limit, creating the widest possible generalizations that go beyond the boundaries of experience. Theoretical ideas, according to Kant, form a system derived from three possible attitudes towards reality: firstly, the relation to the subject, secondly, to the object, and thirdly, to both together, that is, to all things. . From this arise three classes of ideas: about the soul, about the world, about God. Kant believes that it is precisely in the realm of ideas that reason needs the most thorough verification and self-criticism.

These are the main ideas of the Critique of Pure Reason. Kant did not actually answer the question posed at the beginning of the Critique... - how is metaphysics as a science possible?With his transcendental dialectics, he destroyed all dogmatic constructions in this area, but beyond declaring the need for a new scientific philosophy until you go.

"Prolegomena", published in the spring of 1783, was an arrangement of "Critique ...". The emphasis in them was shifted to the problem of metaphysics .

9. Kant and the philosophy of history.

In the mid-80s of the 18th century, Kant paid special attention to reflections on the philosophy of history. . In November 1784, his article "The Idea of ​​General History in the World-Civil Plan" was published. The article opens with a statement of a circumstance that in the 18th century became more or less common property - the operation of laws in the life of society. Then, Kant expresses the idea of ​​a discrepancy between personal goals and social results of human activity. It is not necessary to assume that an individual has a reasonable purpose; rather, stupidity, childish vanity, malice and a passion for destruction act as motives for behavior, but if we ignore them, then in the general course of history one can see a certain rational goal common to all mankind. The reason for the lawful order in humanity, according to Kant, is the antagonism between people, their tendency to join society, at the same time providing resistance to this society, which threatens to disintegrate.. In an atmosphere of unanimity, moderation and mutual love human talents could not show themselves. Kant is an optimist, and believes that the path of discord ultimately leads to the achievement of a universal legal civil society, whose members are granted the greatest freedom, compatible, however, with the complete freedom of others. Antagonism in this society will continue to exist, but it will be limited by laws. Only under such conditions is the most complete development of the potentialities inherent in human nature possible. Thoughts developing this idea can be found in some later works, for example, in the article "The Assumed Beginning of Human History" (1786).

10. Philosopher's views on ethics.

Kant made the first systematic presentation of ethics in the book "Fundamentals of the Metaphysics of Morals", which was published in 1785. . The philosopher sought to show the unity of practical and theoretical reason (ie morality and science). In 1785, he believed that he was incapable of solving such a problem. As soon as she was on his shoulder, he wrote the Critique of Practical Reason. The book was published in 1788. The content of these two ethical works partially repeats, partially complements each other. They set forth only the beginnings of Kant's doctrine of morality. Only at an advanced age did the philosopher manage to create a work where his ethics appeared in its final form, this is the Metaphysics of Morals. The new word spoken by Kant about human behavior is the autonomy of morality. Previous theories were heteronomous, i.e. derived morality from principles external to it. Some moralists saw the root of moral principles in some kind of compulsory prescription - the will of God, the institutions of society, the requirements of an innate feeling. Others insisted that the ideas of good and evil are derived from the goals that a person seeks, and the consequences that follow from his behavior, from his desire for happiness, pleasure, benefit. . Kant affirms the fundamental independence and intrinsic value of moral principles. Good is good, even if no one is good. The criteria here are absolute and obvious. Philosophical analysis of moral concepts suggests that they are not derived from experience, they are a priori embedded in the human mind. The original concept of Kant's ethics is an autonomous good will. It is not passive; the thinker requires action, deed from its bearer. A moral act looks like the result of some internal imperative (commandment), sometimes running counter to the immoral practice of the surrounding reality. In this regard, the philosopher emphasizes the primacy of practical reason in comparison with the theoretical one. The main thing is behavior, and knowledge is secondary. Therefore, in order to recognize good and evil, no special education is needed, intuition ("the ability to judge") is enough. Here Kant disagrees with the "discoverer" of morality Socrates, for whom good coincides with knowledge and the absence of knowledge is the only source of any moral imperfection. Thus the author of the "Critique" and "Principles" goes beyond the limits of Enlightenment rationalism. The nature of man according to Kant is his freedom. From the point of view of ethics, freedom is not an arbitrariness, not just a logical construction, in which various actions can follow on equal terms from a given cause. The moral freedom of the individual consists in the realization and fulfillment of duty to oneself and other people. "Free will and will subject to moral laws, is one and the same. "Man's freedom is possible insofar as he is a child of two worlds. Belonging to the sensually perceived world makes a person a toy of external causality, here he is subject to extraneous forces - the laws of nature and the institutions of society. But as a member of the noumenal world of" things by themselves" he is endowed with freedom. These two worlds are not anti-worlds, they interact with each other. The intelligible world contains the basis of the sensually perceived world, and the noumenal character of a person underlies his phenomenal character. The duality of a person is eliminated by the mechanism of conscience. It is impossible to understand everything correctly, but it is wrong to act. Define yourself, be imbued with the consciousness of moral duty, follow it always and everywhere, be responsible for your actions yourself - this is the quintessence of Kant's ethics, strict and uncompromising. An essential place in Kant's philosophical system is occupied by his philosophy of religion, which is directly adjacent to ethics . The philosopher puts forward the thesis: morality does not arise from divine institutions, and the antithesis: morality inevitably leads to religion. Human ability is not enough to bring people's right to happiness in line with their duties, so it is necessary to recognize an omnipotent moral being as the ruler of the world. The treatise "Religion within the limits of reason alone" is devoted to the justification of the antithesis.. Kant looks at the past, looks for the socio-psychological roots of faith in God and sees in man and humanity as a whole the struggle of two principles - good and evil. The philosopher begins with reflections on the moral nature of man. Man, he argues, is by nature evil. It contains an inescapable tendency to do evil, which looks like an acquired one, but being, however, originally inherent in it. At the same time, a person also has the initial makings of goodness. . Moral education consists in restoring the rights of good inclinations, so that they will triumph in the struggle against human inclination to evil. Such a victory is possible only as a revolution in the way of thinking and feeling of the person himself, and for this purpose it requires the presence of a social need for good. The experience of guilt (one's own or someone else's, to which you are only a partaker) is the basis of morality. In the doctrine of religion, the historicism of Kantian thinking was clearly manifested. Kant sees the original, essentially non-religious state of people, then the first, not yet perfect type of religion, which is called "liturgical". The third stage is the faith of the mind. The liturgical religion is designed to win the favor of the supreme being, which can be propitiated through veneration, sacred sacrifices, observance of prescriptions and rituals. Man flatters himself with the thought that God can make him happy without making himself better. The religion of reason is pure faith in the good, in one's own moral potentialities without the admixture of any calculation whatsoever, without shifting responsibility to higher power. It is a religion of a good way of life, which obliges to inner perfection. God is a moral law, as if existing objectively, it is love, - so it is said on the pages of the Metaphysics of Morals, the author's latest ethical work. The author accepts Christianity as a moral principle, as a program of philanthropy. Improving this program, he tries to substantiate it theoretically.

11. A new turning point in the philosophical views of Kant in the late 80s of the XVIII century.

At the end of the 80s of the 18th century, a new turning point took place in Kant's philosophical views. . Remaining in general on the positions of criticism, he clarifies (and sometimes decisively changes) his views on a number of problems that are significant for him. First of all, it touches upon the problem of metaphysics. In the Critique of Pure Reason the question was left open. On the one hand, the philosopher convincingly showed that metaphysics as a theoretical discipline is impossible. On the other hand, he declared a program for creating a new metaphysics as a science about supersensible things - God and the immortality of the soul. Kant insists that outside of sensory experience there can be no theoretical knowledge. To give the concept objectivity, it is necessary to bring some kind of contemplation under it. Therefore, theoretically, we can learn nothing about God, or about freedom, or about the soul separated from the body. "Practically we created these objects ourselves", we believe in them and behave accordingly. The metaphysics of the supersensible is possible only from a "practical-dogmatic" point of view. And Kant imagines the metaphysics of nature only as a development of the conceptual apparatus of the natural sciences. Metaphysics is criticism, an amendment to common sense, and nothing more - can be read in drafts.

Moving to the position of critical philosophy, Kant did not forget about natural science . He continued to teach courses in physical geography and theoretical physics. He retained an interest in astronomy and "celestial mechanics" and wrote two articles on the subject: "On volcanoes and the moon" and "Something about the influence of the moon on the weather." Two years before they started talking about the Berlin competition, he published the work "Metaphysical Principles of Natural Science". If in the Critique of Pure Reason, outlining the structure of his future philosophy of nature, Kant divided it into rational physics and rational psychology, now he does not consider the nature of the soul an object. scientific knowledge. The soul is not an extensive quantity, and the description of mental phenomena is not natural science, which deals only with bodies. The philosopher took all possible part in the practical implementation of scientific discoveries. So, for example, the construction of the first lightning rod in Koenigsberg (on the building of the Gaberberg Church) is connected with the name of Kant. However, the main interests of the thinker still lay in the actual philosophical sphere. . When the failure of the attempt to rebuild the building of speculative metaphysics that he had destroyed became clear to him, he began to look for new ways to create a philosophical system, since in philosophy he valued, above all, systematic. The general contours of the doctrine were formed long ago, but there was no system yet. Of course, the first two "Critiques ..." are connected in a certain way, the same concept is developed in them, but the achieved unity between theoretical and practical reason seemed to him insufficient. Lacked some - that important mediating link. The system of philosophy arose for Kant only after he discovered a kind of "third world" between nature and freedom - the world of beauty.. When he created the Critique of Pure Reason, he believed that aesthetic problems could not be comprehended from generally valid positions. The principles of beauty are empirical in nature and therefore cannot serve to establish universal laws. By the term "Aesthetics" he then denoted the doctrine of sensibility, of ideal space and time. In 1787, the thinker's philosophical system takes on clearer contours.. He sees it as consisting of three parts in accordance with the three abilities of the human psyche: cognitive, evaluative ("feeling of pleasure") and volitional ("ability of desire"). In the "Critique of Pure Reason" and "Critique of Practical Reason" the first and third components of the philosophical system are set forth - theoretical and practical. The second, central, Kant still calls theology - the doctrine of expediency. Then the term "theology" will give way to aesthetics - the doctrine of beauty. The philosopher's predecessors, the Englishmen Shaftesbury and Hutcheson, emphasized the specificity of the aesthetic, its irreducibility to either knowledge or morality.. Kant defends this thesis. But next to it, he puts forward an antithesis: it is the aesthetic that is the middle boat between truth and goodness, it is here that theory and practice merge together. Therefore, the aesthetic has two hypostases: on the one hand, it is turned mainly to knowledge (this is beautiful), on the other hand, it is mainly directed to morality (this is sublime). Kant's analysis of the main ethical categories is limited to the consideration of these two categories, since the philosopher is not interested in aesthetics as such, but in its mediating role, and the categories of the beautiful and the sublime are quite enough for him to solve the task. One of the most important merits of Kant is aesthetics in that he discovered the mediated nature of the perception of beauty. . Before him, it was believed that beauty is given to a person directly with the help of feelings. It is enough to be sensitive to beauty and have an aesthetic sense. Meanwhile, the "aesthetic feeling" itself is a complex intellectual ability. To enjoy the beauty of an object, one must be able to appreciate its merits, and the more complex the object, the more specific its aesthetic assessment. Comparing the sublime with the beautiful, Kant notes that the latter is always associated with a clear form, while the former can be easily found in a formless object.. The pleasure of the sublime is indirect; the beautiful attracts, while the sublime both attracts and repels. The basis for the beautiful "we must seek outside of us, for the sublime - only in us and in the way of thinking." Thus, Kant divided the aesthetic into two parts - the beautiful and the sublime, he showed the connection between each of these parts with the adjacent abilities of the psyche. . In conclusion, he again speaks of the aesthetic judgment as a whole. He concludes that the aesthetic ability of judgment is generally associated with reason - the legislator of morality. As for the connection between the aesthetic ability and reason, the legislator of knowledge, by rejecting it directly, the philosopher asserts it indirectly. From his point of view, the aesthetic idea "revives" the cognitive abilities. Kant finds the following synthesis formula: “In application to cognition, the imagination is subordinate to the understanding and is limited by the need to correspond to concepts, but in an aesthetic sense, on the contrary, it is free to give, in addition to the specified consistency with the concept ... rich in content, although undeveloped material for the understanding.” Thus, the sphere of human spiritual activity is outlined, protected in its specificity. Truth, goodness and beauty are understood in their originality and brought together. The unity of truth, goodness and beauty finds additional justification in the doctrine of art. In Kant's aesthetics, which is turned towards general philosophical problems, art is given a relatively small, although quite important place.. All the above features of the aesthetic manifest themselves here in full. Art, according to Kant, is not nature, not science, not craft . Art can be mechanical and aesthetic. The latter, in turn, is divided into pleasant and elegant . The pleasant arts are for enjoyment, entertainment and pastime. Fine arts contribute to the "culture of the ability of the soul", they give a special "pleasure of reflection", bringing the sphere of aesthetic closer to the sphere of knowledge. However, the Kantian dichotomy of art is not limited to this. The philosopher was one of the first in the history of aesthetics to give a classification of the fine arts. . The basis of the division is the way of expressing aesthetic ideas, that is, beauty. Different kinds of art - different kinds of beauty. There may be beauty of thought and beauty of contemplation. In the second case, the material of the artist is either contemplation or form. As a result, Kant discovers three types of fine arts - verbal, visual and the art of playing sensations. . In turn, verbal arts are eloquence and poetry. Fine Arts include the art of sensual truth (plasticity) and the art of sensual appearance (painting). The philosopher refers sculpture and architecture (including applied art) to plasticity. The third part - the art of playing sensations is based on hearing and vision. It is a play of sounds and a play of colors. Kant considers poetry to be the highest form of artistic creativity. The meaning of poetry is that it improves the intellectual and moral potential of a person; playing with thoughts, it goes beyond the limits of conceptual means of expression and thereby trains the mind, it elevates, showing that man is not only a part of nature, but the creator of the world of freedom. However, we should not forget that the philosopher does not put an equal sign between art and knowledge . The scheme lists the so-called "main types" of arts. However, the philosopher notes that the combination of the main types of art gives rise to other types of artistic creativity (eloquence combined with painting - drama, poetry combined with music - singing, singing combined with music - opera, etc.). It takes taste to judge a work of art, it takes genius to create it. The faculties of the soul, the combination of which forms genius, are imagination and reason. Four signs characterize "genius":

1. is the ability to create what cannot be
2. no rule given;
3. the created work must be exemplary;
4. the author cannot explain to others how it arises
5. work;
6. The "sphere" of genius is not science, but art.

Kant came to the formulation of aesthetic problems, starting not from reflections on the nature of art, but from the desire to bring his philosophical system to fullness. Thus, the philosopher himself sees in aesthetics "the propaedeutics of any philosophy." This means that the systematic study of philosophy should begin with the theory of beauty, then goodness and truth will be more fully revealed.

12. The end of the creative path.

"Anthropology" (1798) - the last work published by the author himself. Here, as it were, the reflections on man and, in general, all philosophical reflections are summed up. This is the end of the path, and at the same time the beginning - it is expedient to begin the study of Kant's philosophy with Anthropology. The structure of this work coincides with the general system of Kantian philosophy. The main part of the book is divided into three sections according to the faculties of the soul: knowledge, the feeling of pleasure, and the faculty of desire. It was these three features that at one time determined the content of the three "Critic ...". In Anthropology, the ideas of critical philosophy are directly correlated with the world of man, his experiences, aspirations, and convictions. The result obtained looked like this:

Soul abilities	Cognitive abilities	A priori principles	Applying them to
cognitive ability	Reason	regularity	nature
Feelings of pleasure and displeasure	Ability of judgment	Expediency	Art
Desire Ability	Intelligence	Final goal	Freedom

The diagram shows Kant's philosophical system in its final form. The ability of judgment is assigned an intermediate place between reason and reason, and the thinker himself unambiguously speaks of criticizing the ability of judgment as a means "linking both parts of philosophy into one whole." Kant came to a kind of overcoming the dualism of science and morality by appealing to the artistic potential of man. The formula of Kant's philosophical system is truth, goodness and beauty, taken in their unity, closed on a person, his cultural creativity, which is directed by artistic intuition .

CONCLUSION

Kant's life is, first of all, the books he wrote, the most exciting events in it are thoughts. Kant has no biography other than the history of his teaching. Everyone who knew him said that he was a sociable, sympathetic person. He had to work hard, he loved his work, but he knew not only him. He knew how to have fun, relax, combining thoughtful scholarship with secular gloss. Kant was by no means a recluse, a hermit, a man not of this world. By nature, he was sociable, by upbringing and lifestyle - gallant. However, he did not seek fame, did not seek power, did not know love worries. The measured and monotonous course of the external life of the philosopher is explained by the fact that he had an early all-consuming vital interest - philosophy, and he managed to subordinate his entire existence to this interest. To live for him meant to work, in work he found the main joy. From childhood, the future philosopher was distinguished by poor health, he was predicted to have a short, unproductive life. He lived long, abundant years of creativity. This he achieved by the power of his will. He developed a strict system of hygienic rules, which he strictly adhered to, and achieved amazing results. He died with a clear conscience, with a sense of duty done.

In the history of philosophy there are many examples of mismatch between preaching and behavior. However, Kant is a moralist and Kant is a man - one and the same. Of course, he was not always and not in everything guided by the prescriptions of the categorical imperative. But in general, his behavior corresponded to the ideal of an internally free personality, which he outlined in his works. There was a purpose of life, there was a conscious duty, there was an ability to control one's desires and passions. Nature endows a person with temperament, he develops character himself. Immanuel Kant made himself and in this respect he is unique.

The positive value of Kant's philosophy lies in the fact that for the first time in the history of German idealism he restored dialectics, worked out some of its questions himself, and through his works gave a strong impetus to its further development.

Many thinkers have paid attention to Kant's philosophy both in terms of its value and critical remarks. Marx, Engels and Lenin gave a deep analysis of the social-class basis of Kant's philosophical system. The whole concept of Kant is aimed at man, his connection with nature, the study of human capabilities, and Friedrich Schiller rightly noted: “Nobody has yet said higher words about mortal man than Kant, which is the content of his entire philosophy - “define yourself” This great idea of ​​self-determination shines upon us, reflected in those phenomena of nature which we call beauty."

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16. Philosophy of Kant and modern idealism, I.S. Andreeva, I.I. Remezov, L.A. Bobrova et al., Responsible. ed. I.S. Andreeva, B.T. Grigoryan, USSR Academy of Sciences, INION, M ., Nauka, 1987.
17. Philosophy of Kant: From the time of. research and discussion: to the 200th anniversary of the "Critique of Pure Reason"Man, on the one hand, is just one of the phenomena of things for us in the world of nature and, like any phenomenon, is subject to the necessity that prevails in the world of phenomena. But since this correspondence does not exist in the world of phenomena, it remains to be assumed that it takes place in the intelligible world. 3068. Kant's categorical imperative 9.09KB Kant fixing a universally valid moral prescription having the force of an unconditional principle of human behavior. Although Kant can find more than one of his formulations, for example, act as if the maxim of your action through your will were to become a universal law of nature, or act in such a way that you always treat humanity, both in your own person and in the person of any other, as well as to the goal. and never treated it only as a means. However, in any of these formulations, Kant does not have... 17561. Russian historical path in industry 105.86KB The main stages of the genesis of the manufacturing industrial production in Russia. The multistructural nature of the Russian industrial production system. Industrial development of Russia in the first half of the XIX century. Today, the formation of economic culture in Russia is closely connected with the problem of determining the way economic development countries: focus on the Western model or rely on the preservation of national specifics. 11561. Life of Ivan the Terrible 48.56KB The historiography of the question of the personality of Ivan the Terrible and his deeds is so extensive that it will be necessary to limit ourselves to listing only those historians whose work is best known to the general public. The famous opponent of Ivan IV, Prince Andrei Kurbsky, claimed that Vasily III was looking for healers and sorcerers who could help him gain male power. When Elena became pregnant, a certain holy fool told her that she would be the mother of the heir to the throne. They write that at that moment the earth and sky shuddered from the most powerful thunder peals, that it was perceived as ... 3608. The path of development of theoretical thought from the 14th to the 20th centuries 8.79MB The concepts of composition were not fully formed then, but Alberti speaks of the diversity of forms and movement, of the depth of space, which will later be developed by Leonardo da Vinci as a theory of the laws of linear perspective. 19308. The path to the truth of the heroes of the novel by F. M. Dostoevsky 95.41KB The relevance of this work lies in the fact that the problem of Russian literature and the Orthodox Christian tradition in the modern reading of the texts of Russian classics is of unflagging interest. Osipov, in an article about the great writer, claims that Dostoevsky was one of those who expressed the idea of ​​Christian realism with his work. And he explains that Christian realism is a realism in which God is alive, the presence of Christ is visible, the revelation of the Word is revealed. Osipov continues that for all the complexity of the character and moral manifestations of his ... 16281. Personal (accumulative) medical bills - the way to efficient and fair healthcare 19.65KB The introduction of electronic technologies will not only be convenient for people, but should also become a powerful tool for combating corruption. At the same time, such important conceptual and legal characteristics and functions of the social state as ensuring social justice have not yet found normative consolidation in domestic legislation; the guarantee of equal starting opportunities for citizens and the prevention of a sharp property stratification in society; carrying out a prospective demographic policy; formation... 16094. Problems of reforming the Russian electric power industry: the "thorny" path from monopoly to market relations 15.3KB At the same time, the conditions for reform in many countries have been generally favorable, with the exception of general trend growth of world prices for energy carriers: there was no deficit in the production of electricity; the excess of generating capacities reached 40; the depreciation of fixed assets did not exceed the normative indicators; Lack of incentives to increase the efficiency of rational planning of modes of production and consumption of electricity and energy saving. In this regard, in the electric power industry of Russia there are ... 11255. Extra-curricular work in chemistry as a way of generating interest in the subject and a way of vocational guidance for students 10.21KB Preparing and holding a subject week holding a school Olympiad competition of wall newspapers in chemistry visiting the museum of the Kazan chemical school excursion to the mineralogical museum of KSU tenth graders speaking to seventh graders about the history and role of chemistry demonstration of experiments.

In the book “General Natural History and Theory of the Sky”, he developed a hypothesis of the origin of the Universe: the solar system arose from a huge cloud of matter particles discharged in space and, in accordance with the laws discovered in physics by Newton, developed to a modern device. Developing the ideas of Galileo and Descartes in physics, he substantiates the doctrine of the relativity of motion and rest. In biology, it approaches the development of the idea of ​​a genetic classification of the animal world, and in anthropology, the idea of ​​the natural history of human races. Without the formulation and solution of the problems of natural science developed in the first period of creativity, Kant could not have addressed the problem of the cognizability of the world. The second period of his work was devoted to answering the question of how reliable universal knowledge is possible, what are the sources and boundaries of knowledge, for which he carries out a "criticism" of the mind. The basis of Kant's "critical" philosophy is the doctrine of "things in themselves" and "appearances" ("things for us"). He proves that there is a world of things independent of our consciousness (from sensations and thinking) (“things for us”, that is, phenomena), which, acting on the human senses, appears to him in the form of images. A person cannot confidently say whether this ideal image of a thing corresponds to the thing itself (as it exists by itself, in the absence of a knowing subject. Kant called the essence of a thing “a thing in itself” (noumenon). He calls the world of noumena transcendental (from Latin transcendere - to cross), that is, existing on the other side of human experience. A person can know about things only what they are to him, and the essence of things is unknowable ( agnosticism).

The successor of Kant's ideas was Johann Gottlieb Fichte, who created a subjective-idealistic philosophical system ("science"), which is based on the principle of freedom and dignity of man.

– of the highest flourishing(first half of the 19th century). This is the period of transition from subjective to objective idealism in German classical philosophy and the creation of two prominent systems of objective idealism. The creator of the first system is Friedrich Wilhelm Schelling, who laid the foundations of a dialectical approach to understanding nature, which he considered as an unconscious form of the life of the mind, the only purpose of which is the generation of a conscious form; defended the ideas of a continuous dynamic process of development from the simplest forms to complex ones through the interaction of opposing forces. The logical continuation of his ideas was the philosophy Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel(1770-1831), who created a system of objective idealism, the basis of which is the principle of the identity of thinking and being. The identity of thinking and being forms the substantial basis of the world and contains within itself the difference between the subjective and the objective. According to Hegel, thinking is not a subjective human activity, but an objective entity independent of a person, the fundamental principle of everything that exists. Thinking, thinking itself, making itself an object of knowledge, splits into objective and subjective and "alienates" its being in the form of matter, nature, which is its "other being". Hegel calls objectively existing thinking the absolute idea. Since the mind is not a specific feature of a person, but is the fundamental principle of the world, the world is fundamentally logical, that is, it exists and develops according to the laws inherent in thinking, reason. At the same time, the mind as a substantial entity is not outside the world, but in itself, as an internal content that manifests itself in all the variety of phenomena of reality. The logic of the development of the world is the logic of the development of the absolute idea, which at first alienates its being, gives it a movement, as a result of which being becomes meaningful. Then it reveals itself as an essence, as a concept, and finally, thanks to the development of this concept as an absolute idea, it appears as a development of nature and society.

The most important achievement of Hegel's philosophy was the consistent development of the dialectical method (the basic laws of dialectics).

– Materialistic(mid-nineteenth century). This period is associated with creativity Ludwig Feuerbach(1804-1872), who developed the original concept of anthropological materialism and gave a consistent critique of Hegelian idealism. The basis of Feuerbach's philosophical views is the materialistic doctrine of nature. He argued that nature is the only reality, and man is its highest product, completion. In man, and thanks to him, nature feels and thinks itself. Condemning the idealistic interpretation of thinking as an extra-natural entity, he comes to the conclusion that the question of the relation of thinking to being is a question of the essence of man, since only man thinks. Therefore, philosophy must become a doctrine of man, that is, anthropology. Man is inseparable from nature and the spiritual should not be opposed to nature. Feuerbach's teaching is often regarded as the final stage in the development of classical philosophy. At the same time, the concepts that were formed in later periods are considered as non-classical, or post-classical.