He is one of the most famous and influential philosophers in human history. But what did he really think of the human race and his fellow human beings?
One of Kant's most famous philosophical musings is that 'man must be disciplined, for by nature he is raw and wild'. He believed very strongly that if we did not tame our primitive and animalistic desires and urges, they would take over our lives. We would be driven by impulses and emotions - and this, thought Kant, would be catastrophic for our morality and ethics.
His words echo the argument made by Thomas Hobbes that the undisciplined life of man is 'nasty, brutish and short', with our original and untamed state of nature a 'war of all against all'. Morality, it seems, is a revolution against our innate selfishness and uncontrollable desires - it is only with discipline, training and obedience to authority that we can tame the beast within us.
So how did Kant propose we could be disciplined? What was his solution to our 'raw and wild' nature? One of the most famous anecdotes about Kant is that he never left the town where he was born - he spent everyday of his life between 1724 and 1804 residing in the small German city of his birth, and was known for his strict adherence to a daily routine. According to one biography, he would get up at 5AM every morning, when his servant would wake him. In keeping with his commitment to discipline, Kant is said to have demanded his servant did not let him lie in for longer than 30 minutes on any day of the week, despite not enjoying getting up at such an early hour.
This discipline is -of course - most evident in Kant's moral ethics. Kant's theory is 'deontological' in that it is concerned with the act (as opposed to the consequences or outcomes of the act) and he believed that in every situation we have an absolute duty to do the right thing. He believed we could only know the right thing through the cultivation of reason, and through reason we would be able to know the good, which 'shines forth like a precious jewel'.
Kant believed that we must universalise our ethical decisions. He writes that 'your principle of action...be made a law for the whole world'. Essentially, he believed that you must live your life by universal moral laws so that if every single person on the planet acted in the way you did, the world would be a good and moral place. Therefore, 'do not lie' is a duty you must follow in every single circumstance, irrespective of the consequences or the context. So even if there is an axe man at your front door demanding to know whether your beloved mother is inside, you have a duty to tell the truth (as opposed to lying and saying no she's not, so they go away and don't kill her - the consequences are irrelevant to Kant).
He believed that if we start making exceptions in our morality, for example saying it's okay to lie in this certain context or these specific circumstances, our whole system of morality will collapse. Your reason tells you that you have absolute moral duties you must adhere to in every single situation, irrespective of the consequences. And these moral duties are universal - each and every person on the planet must be able to follow these rules in every situation and every set of circumstances.
Kant's morality is regulated, strict and - of course - very disciplined. It rejects any emotion or feeling - such as sympathy or empathy - and depends entirely on the disciplined commitment to consistently doing your duty. This, he believes, is the only way to tame the beast within us and to live consistently moral lives.
Read more in our Ethics Explained series on 'Kant' here:
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