“Kand for beginners”. With this documentary, the first channel of the German public television ARD presented Immanuel Kant last Sunday night on the occasion of today’s 300th anniversary of his birth. “Have the courage to use your own mind” is the most famous quote of the German philosopher from the former Königsberg and today’s Kaliningrad. An exhortation that sealed his definition of Enlightenment. His work “Critique of Pure Reason” is considered the crown of Western philosophy. Some don’t fully understand it, others find it hard to read. But anyone who wants to understand the world does not necessarily need to travel. It was Kant himself who proved it. On April 22, the world celebrates the 300th anniversary of his birth.

The German philosopher never left his native East Prussia but that did not stop him from understanding the world. With his ideas he revolutionized Philosophy and became a pioneer of the Enlightenment. His most famous work Critique of Pure Reason is considered a turning point in the spiritual sciences.

Use reason as a weapon, not religion

Kant is included among the most important thinkers of all time. Many of his findings still apply today in relation to climate change, wars and crises. What would it be that could lead to a lasting peace between states? In 1795 in his philosophical blueprint “Towards Perpetual Peace” Kant proposed a “League of Nations” as a federal community of democratic countries. Political action, as he said, must be guided by the law of morality. His work became the model for the establishment of the League of Nations after World War I, the forerunner of the UN on whose charter he left his mark. Kant also talked about cosmopolitanism. In this way he rejected colonialism and imperialism and formulated ideas for a humane treatment of refugees.

According to the philosopher, every person has the right to visit any other country but without necessarily having the right to hospitality. Kant did not associate human dignity and human rights with God and religion, but philosophically with reason. And he trusted people. He considered them capable of taking responsibility for themselves and for the world. He believed that on the basis of reason one can walk through life, hence the cardinal rule “Act only on that principle by which you can at the same time will it to become a universal law.” He called it the “categorical imperative.”

Today we could put it this way: “Do what is best for everyone.” In 1781 he published his most important work. In the “Critique of Pure Reason” he poses 4 basic questions of philosophy. What can I know? What should I do; What can I hope for? What is man? His search for answers is called Epistemology. Unlike many philosophers before him, he explains in his treatise that the questions about the existence of God, the soul or the beginning of the world cannot be answered. “Kant is not a light of the world but a shining solar system at the same time.” This was a compliment by the writer Jean Paul (1763-1825) to someone of his time. Other intellectuals, however, found his writings difficult to digest.

Pioneer of the Enlightenment

Kant’s teaching and writings laid the foundation stone for a new way of thinking. His catchphrase “Sapere aude” (dare to think) became famous and marked him as a pioneer of the Enlightenment. This intellectual movement, which emerged in Europe towards the end of the 17th century, proclaimed human reason (Rationality) and its proper use as the standard for all actions. In his writings, Kant called on people to free themselves from any instructions, such as God’s commandments, and to take responsibility for their actions. He also wrote this famous quote: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” There are many criticisms and prejudices about Kant to this day. Ottfried Hefe, a German philosopher and researcher of Kant has called some of them into question in his new book “Der Weltbürger aus Königsberg” (The Cosmopolitan from Königssberg).

Among them is the question of whether Kant was a “Eurocentric racist” or whether Kant discriminated against women. In both cases, his answer is: “Yes, but…”. Kant was not a racist in the modern sense, on the contrary, he condemned colonialism and slavery. Although Kant never traveled beyond Königsberg, the East Prussian capital was a vibrant commercial city at the time, a “Venice of the North”. Furthermore, Kant had practically devoured travelogues from other countries.

And finally, was Kant a capricious scholastic scholar and a misanthrope? Today, science dispels this prejudice as well. Although Kant had a strictly regulated daily life, he nevertheless enjoyed long meals with friends and acquaintances, loved billiards and card games, went to the theater and was considered a charming entertainer in the city salons. On the occasion of this jubilee, many honor events are planned for Kant, his thought and his legacy, including in Germany. In Bonn the Bundeskunsthalle, for example, will host a major Kant exhibition. In June there will be a major academic conference in Berlin, followed in the autumn by an International Kant Conference in Bonn, which was originally planned to take place in Kaliningrad but cannot take place there because of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.

Kant’s tomb

Kant’s tomb adorns the back wall of Königsberg Cathedral, a landmark of the city to this day. The Gothic church is one of the few historic buildings that survived the bombings of World War II and the wave of demolitions that followed in the Soviet state. As popular as Kant is today, his writings have been appropriated by many political movements. But who describes himself as his favorite thinker? That’s right, Immanuel Kant!