Free Essays on Kant

Propositions, according to Kant, can also be divided into two other types: empirical and a priori. Empirical propositions depend entirely on sense perception, but a priori propositions have a fundamental validity and are not based on such perception. The difference between these two types of proposition may be illustrated by the empirical â€Å"The house is black† and the a priori â€Å"Two plus two makes four.† Kant's thesis in the Critique is that it is possible to make synthetic a priori judgments. This philosophical position is usually known as transcendentalism. In describing how this type of judgment is possible Kant regarded the objects of the material world as fundamentally unknowable; from the point of view of reason, they serve merely as the raw material from which sensations are formed. Objects of themselves have no existence, and space and time exist only as part of the mind, as â€Å"intuitions† by which perceptions are measured and judged. In addition to these intuitions, Kant stated that a number of a priori concepts, which he called categories, also exist. He divided the categories into four groups: those concerning quantity, which are unity, plurality, and totality; those concerning quality, which are reality, negation, and limitation; those concerning relation, which are substance-and-accident, cause-and-effect, and reciprocity; and those concerning modality, which are possibility, existence, and necessity. The intuitions and the categories can be applied to make judgments about experiences and perceptions, but cannot, according to Kant, be applied to abstract ideas such as freedom and existence without leading to inconsistencies in the form of pairs of contradictory propositions, or â€Å"antinomies,† in which both members of each pair can be proved true. In the Metaphysics of Ethics (1797) Kant described his ethical system, which is based on a belief that the reason is the final authority for morality. Actions of a... Free Essays on Kant Free Essays on Kant Kant objects most of all to the principle that one's own happiness can be the ground of morality. He rejects this possibility because well-being is not always proportionate to virtuous behaviour. "It is a very difficult thing to make a man happy from making him good. Most significantly, Kant renounces happiness as the principle of morality because it obliterates the specific difference between virtue and vices. He argues that Aristotle's precepts of morality can only contain the potential of learning to better calculate these differences. In order to understand how it is possible and necessary to separate virtues and vices categorically, we must show how Kant develops his argument that one must subject oneself to a moral law. Kant argues that Aristotle's doctrine of the mean conflates virtues and vices and hence can provide no practical guide to moral behavior. For Kant, all that Aristotle's doctrine can account for is a worth that is relative to the unique constitution of the observer. Finally, Kant argues that Aristotle's is an example of how the dialectic of reason operates.For Kant, the concept of happiness cannot analytically contain that of the supreme good. Kant's ethical theory, like Aristotle's, begins with an exposition of the properties which a moral agent must posses in order to acquire and exhibit goodness. Aristotle and Kant agree that the ergon of a human being is reason. Kant contrasts persons with things, the difference being that rational beings are designated as persons because their nature indicate that they are ends in themselves. For Kant and Aristotle, the moral agent subordinates inclinations and desires to reason. By analogy, if happiness was the true end of a human then nature would admit of an inconsistency. Happiness could be better attained by instinct than by the weak insight of reason. "Nature would have hit upon a very poor arrangement in appointing the reason of the creature to the executor of this... Free Essays on Kant Galileo's Condemnation As anyone person reads the files from the condemnation of Galileo Galilei they are immediately flabbergasted by the continuity of the church’s corrupted files. Galileo was very different than men in his time; he looked further than the bible. Science has a legitimate of freedom in its own sphere†¦Galileo’s freedom was violated. Even though church was very powerful during Galileo’s life it overused its power to protect its own security. Galileo showed similarities in knowledge compared with the great Roman and Greek philosophers. This had not been apparent for thousands of years throughout the Dark Ages. During the time when Galileo was involved in his studies Galileo visited Rome and the Pope on many occasions. The long hike from his town would often take weeks and would keep him away from his experiments and studies. In 1633 Galileo was finally tried, and found guilty for heresy. Galileo was sentenced to be put under house arrest for the rest of his life after being forced to publicly admit he had made a mistake towards his theories and observations. Galileo feared torture and even the death sentence throughout the whole injunction. As he left the courtroom Galileo spoke: â€Å"And yet it moves.† He couldn’t have put it better. These were his last publicized words. Before Galileo’s trail there were many â€Å"loop-holes† in the church’s case against Galileo. On February 26 1616 Galileo was given a friendly warning stating nothing to do about the injunction or for him to suspend his teachings. Cardinal Bellarmine assured Galileo in writing that he wouldn’t have to stop teaching, and that there was no injunction. The church said that they did tell Galileo to stop his teaching officially but Galileo, a notary or the Dominican fathers never signed the final document. Therefore the document was fraudulent. After this private audience was recorded and then published the report said nothing of t... Free Essays on Kant Propositions, according to Kant, can also be divided into two other types: empirical and a priori. Empirical propositions depend entirely on sense perception, but a priori propositions have a fundamental validity and are not based on such perception. The difference between these two types of proposition may be illustrated by the empirical â€Å"The house is black† and the a priori â€Å"Two plus two makes four.† Kant's thesis in the Critique is that it is possible to make synthetic a priori judgments. This philosophical position is usually known as transcendentalism. In describing how this type of judgment is possible Kant regarded the objects of the material world as fundamentally unknowable; from the point of view of reason, they serve merely as the raw material from which sensations are formed. Objects of themselves have no existence, and space and time exist only as part of the mind, as â€Å"intuitions† by which perceptions are measured and judged. In addition to these intuitions, Kant stated that a number of a priori concepts, which he called categories, also exist. He divided the categories into four groups: those concerning quantity, which are unity, plurality, and totality; those concerning quality, which are reality, negation, and limitation; those concerning relation, which are substance-and-accident, cause-and-effect, and reciprocity; and those concerning modality, which are possibility, existence, and necessity. The intuitions and the categories can be applied to make judgments about experiences and perceptions, but cannot, according to Kant, be applied to abstract ideas such as freedom and existence without leading to inconsistencies in the form of pairs of contradictory propositions, or â€Å"antinomies,† in which both members of each pair can be proved true. In the Metaphysics of Ethics (1797) Kant described his ethical system, which is based on a belief that the reason is the final authority for morality. Actions of a...