Immanuel Kant is arguably the most influential philosopher of the past 240 years. Yet the essayist Heinrich Heine made this claim about Immanuel Kant’s philosophy:
“Immanuel Kant, the arch-destroyer in the realm of thought, far surpassed in terrorism Maximilian Robespierre.”
Harsh language, and it goes against a standard interpretation of Kant as the savior of reason.
Kant is a challenging read, so here is my guide to understanding his ideas and the controversies over how properly to interpret him.
I recommend starting with the Second Preface to his Critique of Pure Reason. CPR is Kant’s foundational work. Yet it’s long and complicated. When he published the second edition in 1787, he took pains to write a new preface outlining his main conclusions, his reasons for them, and their key implications for future philosophy. And it’s only 12 pages. So here is the text of Kant’s “Second Preface” itself: PDF.
As supplement, here is my primer close-reading of the text: Video.
Here is a scholarly article by me on its relevance for the Is-Kant-objectivist-or-subjectivist debate: PDF. (The source for the Heine quotation is within.)
Here is my book-length discussion of Kant’s intellectual-history significance on the road to postmodernism: Text or Audiobook.
Here is how Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason works with his later Critique of Judgment and their joint influence on modernist and postmodernist art: Video Interview.
Related: Philosophers, Explained series on the great philosophers and their major works..
I would like to see the interview on the connection between Kant’s Pure Reason and Judgment critiques but it (https://www.stephenhicks.org/?page_id=57392) is broken. I tried searching for it too, but without the help of a title I had no luck! I appreciate your enlightening work, Stephen.
Link updated. Thanks, Ralph.