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 On April 22, 1724: German philosopher Immanuel Kant, a pivotal figure in the history of modern philosophy and theology, was born in Konigsberg, Prussia.
Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) was a German philosopher who is considered by many to be the most influential thinker of modern times.
Kant was born in Konigsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia), taught philosophy at the University of Konigsberg, and died in Konigsberg. He lived a completely uneventful life. His habits were so regular that the people of Konigsberg set their clocks by his daily walks. When he first read Rousseau’s Emile, he was so engrossed with the book he stayed in for several days, and the people all over Konigsberg were late for their appointments! (Richard Osbourne, Philosophy for Beginners, p. 101)
Kant proposed that only objects of experience might be known, whereas things lying beyond experience are unknowable. The existence of such unknowable things can be neither confirmed nor denied, nor can they be scientifically demonstrated.
Kant did not believe that it was possible to know anything about the outside world in a true, objective way. All that could be known was the Appearance (phenomena) of the world and not the Reality (noumena) of the world – what Kant called the ding-an-sich, the thing-in-itself.
“Nothing that man is incapable of understanding scientifically is relevant in the external world.” (Immanuel Kant, Quoted in, Gary North, Unholy Spirits, p. 36)
Therefore, the great problems of philosophy - the existence of God, moral freedom, and immortality - are insoluble by scientific thought, and by definition, irrelevant to daily life.
Kant shifted the attention away from the rationally objective approach of the Modernists towards a subjective, interpretative approach to knowledge. (James Sire, The Universe Next Door)
Postmodernists place a strong emphasis on Kant’s philosophical position. They reject the objective view as a lie and encourage the belief that the only thing that can be known is the individual’s interpretation of reality.
Although Kant was not a believer and was more responsible than any other philosopher for the skepticism of the modern age, he could not avoid the truth written in the heart and the truth written in the sky.
“The starry heavens above and the moral law within fill the mind with an ever increasing admiration and awe.” (Immanuel Kant Quoted in, Paul Strathern, Kant in 90 Minutes, p. 50)
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