Person
Immanuel Kant
Philosophy & EthicsWho is Immanuel Kant in the Agency editorial?
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher of the eighteenth century, author of the Critique of Pure Reason and of the categorical imperative. Issue.1 names him once, by surname only, when the author presents a universal maxim and says that in philosophy, specifically in Kant, it is called the categorical imperative.
In short
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher, author of the Critique of Pure Reason. In the Agency editorial he appears in one sentence of Issue.1, by surname only. The author, weighing whether he was right to add readers to his newsletter without asking, states a universal maxim: "Don't do to others what you wouldn't want to be done to you." He says the same idea has several names: in philosophy, specifically Kant, it is called "The categorical imperative", and in the sacred scriptures it is known as the golden rule. The edition does not quote Kant or name any of his books.
Key facts
- Who was Immanuel Kant?
- A German philosopher who lived from 1724 to 1804, author of the Critique of Pure Reason and of the moral principle known as the categorical imperative.
- Where does the Agency editorial name Kant?
- In Issue.1, in the author's prose, in the paragraph that presents the universal maxim. Only the surname is used.
- What does Issue.1 attribute to Kant?
- The name of the idea. The edition says that the maxim, in the field of philosophy and specifically in Kant, is called the categorical imperative, and that scripture knows it as the golden rule.
Who was Immanuel Kant?
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher born in 1724 in Königsberg, where he died in 1804. His works include the Critique of Pure Reason and the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, in which he formulates the categorical imperative: to act only on a maxim that one could will to become a universal law. These facts come from outside the edition and are marked for verification.
How does Kant appear in Issue.1?
Issue.1 is an apology: the author explains that he added readers to his newsletter without asking and weighs whether that was ethical. He then states what he calls the universal maxim, "Don't do to others what you wouldn't want to be done to you." According to the edition this same idea has several names: in the field of philosophy, specifically Kant, it is "The categorical imperative"; in the sacred scriptures it is the golden rule, present in the Bible (Matthew 7:12), and it can also be found in the Torah or in Hindu Sanskrit. The edition treats the two as one idea and does not quote Kant's own wording.
Source editions
Where this entry comes from in the Agency editorial.