Kant, take over! Why the voice of reason is so important today

The world seems to have fallen apart. One crisis follows the next, uncertainty is spreading. If you’re looking for good advice, an anniversary is a good idea: Today marks the 300th anniversary of Immanuel Kant’s birth. This will be remembered all over the world in the coming weeks. No other German philosopher has shaped and changed the history of thought so much. Many of his findings are still valid today. They can provide orientation in times of crises, wars and climate change.

How is lasting peace between states possible? Kant answers this hot question in his work “On Eternal Peace”. In it he proposes a “League of Nations,” a federal community of free republican states. This plan was implemented when the League of Nations, the forerunner of the United Nations, emerged after World War I and the UN Charter came into force after World War II.

When is humanitarian intervention, i.e. military interference in the affairs of a state, justified? Kant also deals with this. He advises great restraint, but does not rule out exceptional cases – such as genocide.

In addition to international law, Kant also developed cosmopolitan law. In doing so, he rejects all colonialism and imperialism and formulates the basic principles of a humane treatment of refugees: Every person has the right to visit in every country, but not necessarily the right to be a guest.

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity” states Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Similar in Article 1 of the German Basic Law: “Human dignity is inviolable.” The idea of ​​human dignity is based on the Judeo-Christian view of humanity, but also applies regardless of belief in God – that is exactly what Immanuel Kant worked out.

The power of reason, we need it

Every person therefore has the same standard: his unconditional freedom as dutyto act morally even against one’s own interests and preferences. This categorical imperative to value every person as an “end in itself” prohibits any discrimination. Anyone who denies this is contradicting themselves, because everyone always assumes and claims the principle of freedom.

“Kant is one of the few truly global philosophers,” says Otfried Höffe, who heads the research center for political philosophy at the University of Tübingen. He is convinced that Kant would now thoroughly research climate change, identify human responsibility and look for ways to solve the problem.

“Kant is one of the few truly global philosophers,” says Otfried Höffe, who heads the research center for political philosophy at the University of Tübingen. He is convinced that Kant would now thoroughly research climate change, identify human responsibility and look for ways to solve the problem.

Because Kant relies on the power of reason. According to Höffe, his work “Critique of Pure Reason,” published in 1781, is considered the “founding work of modern philosophy.” Kant shows that the objects of our knowledge do not appear that way by themselves, but are only made to appear by the knowing subject. There is no objective point of view beyond our perception of space and time, which we always bring with us in everything we perceive with our senses. And there is no awareness of anything without us being aware of ourselves.

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This principle of transcendental self-confidence became the initial spark of German idealism: in their engagement with Kant, Fichte, Schelling and Hegel developed philosophical systems that were discussed worldwide. But none of them is still as recognized as Kant, who was born in Königsberg, Prussia, now Kaliningrad (Russia), where he died on February 12, 1804.