Immanuel Kant is a famous German thinker who made a huge contribution to the development of classical philosophy. His works are relevant to this day. Kant's critical philosophy is considered especially important. Consider its main characteristics and ideas. The revolutionary work of the thinker lies in the fact that he proposed a fundamentally new philosophical approach. Instead of thinking about the many problems of being, Kant moved to the very source. The philosopher wondered about the boundaries of knowledge of the surrounding reality by the human mind. That is why the thinker's ideas are called critical. Immanuel refuted the thesis that a person’s ability to know is unlimited.
Kant's critical philosophy is divided into three main areas, which can be expressed in three simple questions. The first one is “what can I know?” Here, the thinker refutes the idea of ​​the simplicity and limitlessness of knowledge. In evidence, he cites the so-called distortion of human perception of the world. In the writings of Kant, all things exist as if in two dimensions. In the first of them, the object exists "in itself", it is what it is in reality. In the second dimension, a thing appears as a phenomenon. It exists only as a reflection in the perception of it by man. Kant believed that the object in reality and the object in the eyes of the individual are completely different things. Therefore, the cognitive abilities of a person are very limited, because the judgment about the world flows only from its reflection, and not from the existing reality.
Kant's critical philosophy then poses the following question: “What should I do?” Here, the thinker considers not abstract, but purely practical tasks. Kant believed that in the soul of each individual laid a certain moral code, the so-called "voice of conscience." The thinker wrote in his writings that man must live in full accordance with him. Here Kant's critical philosophy is in close contact with the basic principles of Christian religious teaching. The German thinker wrote that a person cannot use his brothers as a means to an end. This contradicts all the indisputable laws of morality. A person can be the sole and sole purpose. Kant believed that the individual should be above his selfish inclinations, natural impulses and instincts.
The third question, which was considered by the German philosopher in his writings, is “what can I hope for?” The critical philosophy of I. Kant implies the fact that a person living according to moral laws gains true freedom. It consists in the fact that a person can independently make decisions and determine his life, and not act "at the direction" of his natural needs, which can be destructive. Kant believed that the individual’s efforts to comply with all humanistic principles are not compensated during life, but it is necessary to act in accordance with them because the moral law is indisputable. The philosopher wrote that man can only rely on God. Thus, religion stems from morality, and not vice versa, as indicated in most other works of thinkers and religious figures. Kant very peculiarly approaches the idea of ​​God, rationalizing it. The thinker believed that religion is good for man, because it gives hope for a reward for his efforts to observe moral principles. That is, Kant's philosophical doctrine implies not even a deep understanding of the value of faith in God, but an awareness of the importance of the very idea of ​​the afterlife, where all human efforts will be compensated.