German Classical Philosophy

The Critical Philosophy of I. Kant

The “Copernican Turn” in Philosophy Made by I. Kant

Kant was born and spent his entire life in Königsberg, located in East Prussia (now Russian Kaliningrad). His grandfather was a Scottish immigrant. His mother, of German descent, passed away when he was thirteen years old. After completing his secondary education at a "Latin" school with a religious upbringing, he studied at the university from 1740 to 1745, subsequently working as a private tutor for nine years. In 1775, he became a master, later serving as a privatdozent at the University of Königsberg, while also fulfilling the duties of a librarian for a time. From 1770 until the end of his life, Kant held a professorship at the university.

Despite his rather frail health, Kant was characterized by a rigorous daily intellectual routine, actively participating in the "theoretical battles" of his time and earning the reputation of the foremost philosopher not only of Germany but perhaps of the entire world.

Kant's work can be divided into two periods: the pre-critical (1746-1770) and the critical (circa 1780-1800). During the first period, while teaching various academic disciplines (mathematics, physics, physical geography, logic, metaphysics, and so forth), Kant showed little interest in purely philosophical themes. His most notable work from this time is "Universal Natural History and Theory of the Heavens, or an Attempt to Explain the Constitution and Mechanical Origin of the Universe from Newtonian Principles" (1755). Here, Kant emerges as an original natural scientist, formulating a cosmogonic hypothesis regarding the origin of the Sun and planets from a primordial dust nebula. The principles of systematicity and development underscored the originality of this hypothesis, which is still known today as the Kant-Laplace hypothesis.

The first purely philosophical work that Kant himself regarded as significant was his professorial dissertation, "On the Form and Principles of the Sensible and the Intelligible Worlds." This dissertation partially justified and prepared the groundwork for the subsequent works of the critical period, formulating problems whose solutions Kant deemed essential to address. He emphasized that this work developed concepts that would not be subject to change and would allow for the examination of all metaphysical questions.

The principal work of the critical period is "Critique of Pure Reason" (1781), which provides the fullest account of the essence of the "Copernican Turn" in philosophy. Thus, let us turn our attention to an examination of this work.