Imannuel Kant Life and teachings essays

Imannuel Kant Life and teachings essays Immanuel Kant was born in the East Prussian city of Knigsberg, which is today the Russian city of Kaliningrad. Immanuel studied at the University of Knigsberg where he tutored some of the wealthy upper class students of the university, eventually becoming a professor where he taught his ideals for more then forty years. Kant lived his entire life in the city of his birth, never venturing more then fifty miles from his home. Kants main philosophic thesis is: The possibility of human knowledge presupposes the active participation of the human mind (philosophypages.com, Kemerling). Immanuel Kant was born the forth child of the family, which eventually included five sisters and one brother, on April 22, 1724. Kant was born in East Prussia, during a time of recovery from war and plague which had cut the population of the city by almost half. Kants Scottish father and grandfather were leatherworkers who eked out a living making saddles and harnesses, so that he and his eight siblings knew continual poverty during their early years (Philosophy, Christian, P. 260). One of Kants early influences in his philosophical life was his mother Anna, who never herself attended higher education. Kants mothers insistence on facts and moral obligations was to remain with Kant through his life and played a leading role in his philosophy (Kant in 90 Minutes, Strathem, P. 11). His appearance was as much an oddity as his character. He was less than five feet tall, and his head was disproportionately large for his body. His frame suffered from a slight corkscrew twist, which made his left shoulder droop, his right shoulder curl back, and his head tend to lean to one side (Kant in 90 Minutes, Strathem, P. 15). At the age of eighteen Kant was admitted to the University of Knigsberg as a theological student. He received financial assistance from the local pietist...