Catastrophic spider

by Chris Bertram on February 12, 2004

“Today is the 200th anniversary of Immanuel Kant’s death”:http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1441_A_1112709_1_A,00.html , a day that shouldn’t pass unremarked on a site whose title is drawn from his writings. For comment elsewhere see “Normblog”:http://normblog.typepad.com/normblog/2004/02/categorically_n.html and “The Virtual Stoa”:http://users.ox.ac.uk/~magd1368/weblog/2004_02_01_archive.html#107659111717193752 (where Chris Brooke has assembled some of Kant’s choicest footnotes).

{ 27 comments }

1

Kris 02.12.04 at 11:22 pm

man, I feel like such a dork. I’m teaching a class on the Critique of Pure Reason, for Pete’s sake!! I should have mentioned this in class today…..

My girlfriend, who is currently in Germany, said that they are announcing the anniversary on some of the popular music radio channels.

2

Russell Arben Fox 02.12.04 at 11:36 pm

Joschka Fischer was in Kalingrad today, opening a consulate and visiting Kant’s grave. He gave a brief interview on his appreciation of Kant here: http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1441_A_1111992,00.html. Interesting stuff.

3

Keith 02.13.04 at 12:15 am

I can’t see his name without adding “. . . was a real piss-ant”.

*sigh*

4

Anna 02.13.04 at 1:06 am

Speaking of zoological oddities, it’s Darwin’s birthday.

in my time zone, at least

5

Kant 02.13.04 at 1:33 am

It should not be Kant’s birthday today, unless we are willing to make it a universal rule that everyone will have their birthday today.

6

Cryptic Ned 02.13.04 at 3:13 am

The only philosophy book I’ve ever read is “Mindware” by Andy Clark. I read the entirety of “Eureka! : What Archimedes Really Meant and 80 Other Key Ideas Explained by Michael Macrone”, and some other book I can’t remember now. In other words, I know nothing about the context of Kant’s work, but from the generic descriptions I’ve heard about various philosophers (“He questioned blah, and synthesized blah with blah, in a quest for the nature of blah”), he sounds like the most interesting. Is there anything at all by Kant that the layman could begin to comprehend? Is there one Kant book in particular?

7

bza 02.13.04 at 4:07 am

Is there anything at all by Kant that the layman could begin to comprehend? Is there one Kant book in particular?

It’s probably fair to say that none of Kant’s major works lend themselves to individual self-study (which is somewhat ironic given Kant’s views on the nature of philosophical knowledge). But some of his shorter essays are comprehensible and very much worth reading in their own right. Try “What is Enlightment?” and “Perpetual Peace”.

While we’re on the subject of lucid shorter works by philosophers famous for obscure long works, let me push this piece by Hegel (it has nothing to do with Marxism; that’s just the most convenient web source):

http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hegel/works/se/abstract.htm

8

raj 02.13.04 at 4:07 am

Immanuel Kant?

You missed his middle initial. It was “B”. For “Bloviator.”

Although others might come up with other translations. Like those for his full middle name–Bullescheiss.

9

bza 02.13.04 at 4:09 am

Oops, typo: that should be “What is Enlightenment?”

10

Julian Nightngale 02.13.04 at 4:12 am

“Is there anything at all by Kant that the layman could begin to comprehend? Is there one Kant book in particular?”

Kant’s larger works are all pretty tough going.

“Kant”, by Roger Scruton, is a lively introduction. Reading it put me in a trance.

11

Normal Fred 02.13.04 at 4:19 am

Is there a greater German than Kant? He is one of the few in history that Germany can be proud of.

12

John Landon 02.13.04 at 4:33 am

An age that cant do Kant has lost major marbles, and is either pragmatist (Dewey’s “I gave up on Hegel) or, dribble, positivitically too far gone to do philosophy.

E.O. Wilson wants to declare war on Kant in the twenty first century (seriously). Do you agree? Be careful how you answer.

Kant can be resurrected from one paragraph from his short essay on history, cf. the link given

13

Neil Sinhababu 02.13.04 at 5:22 am

Thanks for using the Nietzsche reference. :-)

14

Alan K. Henderson 02.13.04 at 5:31 am

I once took one of those silly online quiizzes that’s intended to assess how the test taker jives with a selection of philosophers. (That my Sartre score was double digits rasies questions about its accuracy.) My Kant score was 100%. Well, that piques my curiosity. I’ll have to do a little reading to see if the quiz was even remotely correct.

15

Doug 02.13.04 at 3:22 pm

Yo Fred!

Beethoven
Brahms
Strauss (any of several)
Mozart
Bach (several)
Haydn
Handel
Mendehlssohn
Schumann
Schubert
Einstein
Gauss
Planck
Roentgen
Goethe
Schiller
Nietzsche
Hegel
Goedel
Kleist
Schlegel (several)
Marx
Engels
Schopenhauer
Rilke
Heine
Kafka
Luther
Böll
Celan
Grass
Brecht
Mann
Not sure that any of them are greater than Kant, but that’s almost three dozen from German history that any nation would be proud of. Just off the top of my head, and limited to people immediately recognizable by a single name. Given first and last names, the list would grow very long indeed. A politician from the Austrian provinces (Californians take note) does not constitute the whole of German history.

16

DJW 02.13.04 at 4:21 pm

Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals is notably harder that What is E or Perpetual Peace, but it’s a fair bit more managable than the big three. Someone who’s intrepid and has a bit of experience with philosophical background could do it on their own, I imagine. It’s about 70 pages. The Hackett edition also contains another fun essay, “On the old saw, that may be true in theory but it won’t work in practice.” THis book will also introduce the reader to one of Kant’s more famous ideas, the categorical imperative.

17

bob mcmanus 02.13.04 at 4:57 pm

I have embarked on an in-depth study of Kant. It started with Rawls, and some thinking about formalism and intuitionism in TOJ. Have spent about a week reading secondary material, with good aid from S Palmquist’s site. I am thankful you alerted me to his birthday, which made for a nice point for starting to read the original works.

Having studied several of the ethical works before, I have started on Judgement, plan to work backwards (sideways, whatever, as I come across a term like real or idea, I will research it).

I didn’t find Practical Reason all that difficult to read, although the subtlety of the ideas needs a lot of work. I enjoy reading Kant. There is a joy in the man, a subtle humour and wit, a pleasure of careful craftmanship. We have even yet to realize how great, and how good, Immanual Kant was as a man and philosopher.

And I want to thank Doug for his list. And thank the Germans for giving us more than their fair share of geniuses.

18

mallarme 02.13.04 at 5:28 pm

Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals is notably harder that What is E or Perpetual Peace, but it’s a fair bit more managable than the big three. Someone who’s intrepid and has a bit of experience with philosophical background could do it on their own, I imagine.

I don’t think it’s that difficult of a read. It takes some time and concentration, but no real philosophy background to understand. I’m sure there are nuances and minor points I missed when I read it due to my lack of context, but I enjoyed it and understood all the major points.

19

goethean 02.13.04 at 6:05 pm

Actually, the truly amazing thing is Kant’s *lack* of influence on the 20th century. The intellectual mainstream hasn’t caught up to him yet.

If Bertrand Russell or G.E. Moore had understood the first Critique, Anglo-American Analytic Philosophy as we know it would have never begun.

Kant solved the mind/body problem by noting that the world is mental. Einstein understood that, but did Stephan Jay Gould? Does Daniel Dennett? Does Richard Rorty?

These supposed intellectual giants are still working in a pre-Kantian, that is a Cartesian, framework. And this stuff does trickle down. Your typical scientist is also working in a Cartesian framework.

Kant opened the door to a post-metaphysical understanding of the world. Heidegger entered that door. So did Whitehead. So did Aurobindo. But mainstream academia still doesn’t get Kant.

20

Phil Arete 02.13.04 at 6:05 pm

I thought the “crooked timber” quote was from Isaiah Berlin. I’ve seen it attributed to Kant elsewhere, but I assumed it was spurious.

If it’s from Kant, which work was it from?

21

des 02.13.04 at 6:34 pm

It’s not his birthday, persons, it’s his deathday, or rather it was yesterday.

If it’s from Kant, which work was it from?

20 minutes ago I had no idea and I don’t really know any German, but thanks to the magic of Google, it’s from the essay in the Berlinische Monatsschrift (November 1784, S. 385-411) (The celebrated “Idea to a general history with world-civil intention”), which says:

[A]us so krummem Holze, als woraus der Mensch gemacht ist, kann nichts ganz Gerades gezimmert werden.

[F}rom so bent wood, when from which humans are made, can nothing completely straight are gezimmert.

How true that is, how very true.

(Translations with a little help from the fish)

InterWebNet, I *heart* u!

22

Decnavda 02.13.04 at 6:34 pm

Ummm….

Including Einstien on the list of notable Germans may be technically acruate, but is it really FAIR? A coworker of mine is the daughter of a Jewish refugee from Austria who won a Nobel a few years back for his work on the brain. My coworker related how angry her father got when he was contacted by reporters from Austrian newpapers wanting to write stories about the “Austrian” Nobel prize winner. He told them on no uncertain terms that he was an American, not an Austrian – if Austria didn’t want him then, it couldn’t claim him now.

I have not read enough of Einstien’s life to know how he felt about this, but I suggest that nations should be equitably estopped from claiming credit for the achievements of those they rejected.

23

Kris 02.13.04 at 11:20 pm

Leibniz should be on that list, man. Leibniz!

24

Kieran Healy 02.14.04 at 12:06 am

I have not read enough of Einstien’s life to know how he felt about this

There’s a famous quote from him (I remember reading it years ago in Einstein for Beginners) that goes, “If relativity is proved right the Germans will call me a German, the Swiss call me a Swiss citizen, and the French will call me a great scientist. If relativity is proved wrong the French will call me a Swiss, the Swiss will call me a German, and the Germans will call me a Jew.”

25

amoeba 02.14.04 at 4:48 pm

200 years … and still a virgin

26

Dell Adams 02.15.04 at 1:30 am

To people who were asking for a short, readable introduction to Kant’s philosophy, I recommend Kant’s own “Prolegomena”.

27

JP 02.17.04 at 6:18 pm

Not sure that any of them are greater than Kant, but that’s almost three dozen from German history that any nation would be proud of.

Let’s not forget about Heidi Klum.

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