Immanuel Kant

Jacob Maguffee
James Oliver
PHIL 1030-008
04-24-2018

Interesting Facts about Immanuel Kant

Immanuel Kant is one of the most popular/famous philosophers who ever lived. He is known for many things. His contributions to metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics are only a few of the great things he did through his life. My group created a presentation for the midterm project on the topic of who Immanuel Kant was and what he did. While researching his life, I found many very interesting things about him that I did not input in the presentation due to not wanting to veer off path on something not related to the overall topic. I would like to identify a few of the interesting things that many people do not know and possibly some of the reasons he was as successful as he was!
Some philosophers throughout history had a vast amount of wealth whether that be being born into it, marrying into it or following gaining popularity for their works. This was not the case at all for Immanuel Kant. His family were not well off when we was growing up and if it was not for a kind priest who offered to pay for his education when he was a young man, we may have never heard of Immanuel Kant today! When his father passed away, Johann Georg Kant, Immanuel actually had to leave his schooling to help his family financially. I believe do to his struggles financially through life, it is not too far out to say that he knew that he would have to work hard for a better life for himself and family. Thus triggering his laser sharp determination at a very young age.
Almost going hand and hand with the last interesting fact, Immanuel Kant showed through his working life that he was in fact, very tough. When he received his doctorate’s degree after many years of hard work and even leaving the school for a few years to help his family get back on their feet, he had to work another fifteen years to receive tenure. Not only was the time frame longer than most professors at that time, but many of his colleagues did not support his teachings and were for the most part, unreceptive.
It was not a smooth path to fame for Immanuel Kant who at one point was banned from writing or teaching about religion from the King of Prussia! Being the kind person Immanuel was, he obeyed the request until the King died where he then did not hesitate to spread his thoughts on religion.
Throughout all his obstacles in life; not coming from a wealthy home, being rejected for the most part at the college he taught at, and even being banned from speaking on religion by the King, Kant never stopped and ultimately became famous for many decades and centuries to come. I believe Kant is a figure that many can look up to who may feel like the odds are against them to succeed in life. After researching his life as a philosopher, I can take away that if you work hard enough at something, no one can stop you from achieving anything you want to do!