5 books by Kant to introduce you to his thought

Immanuel Kant was an 18th century German philosopher. His thought has been very influential in the history of philosophy. Therefore, if you are interested in exploring his reflections and don’t know where to start, here we present a selection of five books by Kant that can help you get to know his thoughts.

The works selected in this article cover the main themes of Kantian philosophy and offer an overview of his thinking. These topics cover his ethical theory, his theory of understanding, his aesthetics and his conception of education.

Kant was a lover of physics, mathematics and science in general.

Kant’s historical context

Immanuel Kant was born in 1724 in Königsberg, a city in the kingdom of Prussia. As such, he lived in a time of great historical and cultural change in Europe. During his life, the philosopher witnessed important events such as the French Revolution or the Enlightenment.

Precisely The Enlightenment was decisive for the development of Kant’s thought. We are talking about a current of thought based on our most rational side.

Kant considered rationality, and by extension logic, as the engine of human progress, as well as liberation from the bonds imposed by servitude. In this sense, closely associated with the concept of reason, of thinking man, was the concept of freedom.

Why is the Enlightenment important in Kant’s thought? Because his works reflect the spirit of his time. In such a way that the foundation of human freedom is postulated in his ethics. Likewise, in his theory of understanding he asks about the possibilities of knowledge of reason stripped of all empirical experience. And finally, in his conception of education he highlights the importance of human progress as a species.

Kant’s 5 most important books

The 5 books we selected address practically all the fundamental topics to understand Kant’s philosophy. Issues that we could resolve by addressing the answer to three questions: what can I know? What should I do? What can I expect? These writings were so important that they were the object of study and discussion in subsequent philosophical developments. What are these books?

Observations on the feeling of the beautiful and the sublime (1764).Criticism of pure reason (1781).Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785).Criticism of the trial (1790).Pedagogy (1803).

«Observations on the feeling of the beautiful and the sublime»

This title is a philosophical essay written by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant in 1764. In this book, Kant reflects on the aesthetic concepts of the beautiful and the sublimeand how these influence the perception we have of the world.

According to Kant, something beautiful is something that causes a pleasant sensation in the observer.. It is related to feelings of joy, enchantment and love. While the sublime refers to that which provokes a feeling of greatness, admiration and respect. It is related to nature and the unfathomable.

Likewise, Kant considers that The feelings of the beautiful and the sublime are the property of the human being and not attributes of objects. That is to say, the things of the world are not beautiful or sublime, but rather these adjectives come from our sensitive capacity.

Therefore, This book serves to carry out a philosophical reflection on our feelings of pleasure or displeasure. That is, why does something cause us these feelings? It is because of our sensitivity, understood as a universal human capacity. Furthermore, it allows us to understand that the objects themselves are not beautiful or sublime, but that we put these adjectives to the things of the world.

«Critique of pure reason»

Published in 1781, it is considered the fundamental piece in which Immanuel Kant’s philosophical thought is developed. In it The foundations of thought, the sources of consciousness and the laws that govern the sensible world are exposed.that is, the world in which we live.

The question of what a person needs to become a subject of knowledge is addressed., putting the focus of attention on the entity that knows, and not on the potentially known entity. We talk about the so-called transcendental method.

So in this book, Kant proceeds to make a critical analysis of reason to investigate whether she can achieve strictly rational knowledge. And this is based on reason itself, and not on sensible experience.

When we refer to a critical analysis it is not in the sense of giving opinions or making value judgments, but rather it is about establishing the limits of reason; That is, Kant examines the possibility and limits of this faculty of knowing. Thus, the philosopher proceeds to abstract the capacities of feeling and willing, topics that he delves into in other books.

In short, this book echoes a paradox that perhaps we have all faced at some point. And it is that Reason asks questions from which it cannot escape, but neither can it answer.. Because his questions rise from what we know in everyday life: God, the soul and the world.

“Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals”

Kant published this book in 1785 and in it he laid the foundations of his ethics. Written in a language that is more friendly to the reader, it is prior to his other great work on ethics: Critique of Practical Reason.

The aim of this book is to discover and expound the fundamental principle of morality and criticize its possibility. In this sense, It talks about the laws of freedom that must determine the will or conduct of man. That is, the human being must found his own freedom on reason.

It is about laws according to which everything must happen. It is the famous concept of categorical imperative, understood as the foundation of duty. Thus, in the face of any behavior that the human subject may have, one must ask whether it can be universally valid. For example, we could not imagine a world where lying is a rule, because elevating it in a universal sense is not desirable and can even be harmful.

Kant, once again, privileges reason over the will of the human being, since it maintains that this is affected by inclinations or feelings. They prevent him from leading a life in accordance with understanding and, therefore, freedom.

«Criticism of the trial»

Immanuel Kant published this book in 1790 and it constitutes his great work on aesthetics. It asks about the possibility that people can have objective aesthetic judgments. That is, if it is possible to make statements about the beauty and ugliness of things that are not based on personal tastes.

In this sense, It is about taste and beauty understood universally. and not individually or particularly. Therefore, aesthetic judgment requires a foundation a priorithat is, supported solely by reason, without any sensitive element.

For this reason, Kant maintains that there are no beautiful objects, but rather feelings of pleasure awakened by the representation of the imagination. In this sense, it is a capacity of understanding and not the beauty of things, as he states in his book Observations on the feeling of the beautiful and the sublime.

Now we have another way of conceiving beauty and the beautiful, based on a universal sense and not on a particular one. And most important of all, we can say that there are no beautiful things, but that we, as human beings with the ability to reason, add beauty to things.

Kant was a teacher with great charisma; Many of his students traveled to Königsberg to attend his classes.

“Pedagogy”

This book was published in 1803 and It is the result of the pedagogy lessons that Kant taught as a university professor. In later editions it is maintained that his student Friedrich Theodor Rink was in charge of putting together the notes that were later approved by the philosopher.

Why did we choose this work? A large part of Kant’s reflections are synthesized in it. The idea of ​​human progress, his ethics based on reason and his theory of understanding, all of them applied to education.

In this sense, For Kant, it is through education that the human race can display all the potentialities that nature has provided in it. He proposes that human nature develops better and better through instruction and leads the human being to his true destiny. Which is it? The indefinite progress of the human species.

In relation to his ethics founded on reason, Kant maintains that Education must be that compass, and at the same time that path that makes us evolve. Therefore, for him discipline in instruction is important, since it is through it that the individual submits to the laws of humanity.

Finally, Kant considers that education must develop the autonomy of judgment. That is, it must be able to generate students who think for themselves and do not repeat ready-made thoughts. Here his theory of understanding is put into practice through instruction.

In short, the Kant books presented in this article are excellent introductions to the thought of one of the most influential philosophers in history. From his ethical theory to his theory of understanding and aesthetics, these books address different aspects of his thought and allow you to learn about his main ideas and arguments. We hope that this article has been useful for you to delve into Kantian thought and that these books inspire you to continue exploring his work and his legacy.

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