The meaning of the philosophy of Descartes and Kant, what are the main philosophical ideas of Kant

Descartes was an idealist dualist, and he held an ontological view of mind-object dualism, arguing that the origin of the world has two entities, the absolute entity and the relative entity. He is also skeptical of everything, putting forward the proposition that "I think, therefore I am", believing that only "I am" in the world is certain, and everything else is uncertain. "I think, therefore I am" is the first principle of Descartes' philosophy, on which his entire metaphysical system is constructed.

At the same time, Descartes also proceeded from the phrase "I think, therefore I am" to present a proof of God's existence. He also emphasized the concept of innate talent and rational deduction, and put forward the "mind-body sympathetic theory" in epistemology.

Kant's philosophical ideas are relatively obscure. The essence of his thought lies in his three major criticisms, "Critique of Pure Reason" is a critique of philosophical epistemology, his general problem is how it is possible to make a comprehensive judgment of nature, and then analyze the epistemic forms of the three stages of perceptual intellectual rationality, leading to the contradiction of the two laws. The Critique of Practical Reason is a critique of philosophical morality, emphasizing the moral law and proposing three categorical imperatives, which are his moral standards, but Kant's moral standards are basically very high.

The Critique of Judgment This is a critique of the aesthetics and teleology of philosophy, which our teacher does not talk about much, but focuses on moral teleology.

Kant was a transcendental idealist, and the former recognized Descartes as an idealist empiricist. The latter holds that the truth is unknowable.

Descartes was an idealist empiricist.

Kant was a transcendental idealist.

The former believes that the truth can be known.

The latter believes that truth is unknowable.

This is my understanding.

A Review of Kant's Philosophical Thought.

In Kant's time, there were two main theories of European philosophical thought: empiricism, developed by Locke, Hume, and others, and rationalism, by Descartes and others. Empiricists believe that human knowledge and knowledge of the world is based on human experience, while rationalists believe that human knowledge comes from human reason.

Kant, on the other hand, bridged the two views to a certain extent. Kant believed that knowledge is acquired by human beings through both the senses and reason. Experience is necessary for the production of knowledge, but it is not the only element.

To convert experience into knowledge, reason is required (Kant, like Aristotle, called this reason "categories"), and reason is innate. Human beings gain experience of the outside world through the framework of categories, and the world cannot be perceived without categories. Thus category is as necessary as experience for the acquisition of knowledge.

But there are also factors in the human realm that can change the way man thinks about the world, and he realizes that things are different from what people see, and that people can never know for sure what things really are. In the Critique of Pure Reason, Kant pointed out that no one can resemble an object that exists in a world without time and space, and therefore he emphasized that experience is impossible without time and space, and that these two precede everything. In addition, Kant believed that experience must come from outside the mind.

In other words, a person can perceive and understand the world around him, but he can never perceive and understand himself, because the generation of knowledge requires three elements: time, space and category.

In terms of the law of cause and effect, Kant also overturned Hume's view. Hume believed that there was no law of cause and effect, and that it was only by habit that human beings thought that there was a correlation between the two phenomena. In other words, we can only perceive the motion of the white ball and the black ball, but we cannot perceive the cause of the white ball's movement.

It is precisely because we cannot perceive the law of cause and effect itself that Hume argues that we cannot prove the existence of the law of cause and effect. But Kant believed that the law of cause and effect is the result of human reason, and Kant agreed with Hume that the law of cause and effect does not come from experience, but he believed that the laws of nature could be proved, because the laws of nature are the laws of human cognition. The law of cause and effect is actually a manifestation of human reason.

In terms of ethics, Kant rejects the notion that the will is governed by external factors, but argues that the will legislates for itself, and that the human ability to distinguish between right and wrong is innate, not acquired. This set of natural laws is the supreme command, applicable to all situations, and is a universal moral code. Kant believed that a true moral act is an act done purely on the basis of obligation, and that doing something to achieve a certain personal utilitarian purpose cannot be considered a moral act.

Thus, Kant argues that the moral conformity of an action does not depend on the consequences of the action, but on the motivation for taking it. Kant also believed that we are only free if we obey the moral law, because we are abiding by the moral code that we have made ourselves, and if we do it only because we want to do it, there is no freedom at all, because you become a slave to all kinds of things.

Plato, Descartes, and Kant are all influential philosophers in the history of philosophy, and their ideas cover many fields, including metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, etc. While there are many differences in their thinking, there are also many commonalities, and here are some of them:

The Pursuit of Knowledge: All three philosophers emphasized the importance of wisdom and believed that the pursuit of wisdom is the mission and goal of mankind. Plato believed that truth exists in the Absolute Idea, which needs to be obtained through philosophical metaphysical thinking; Descartes advocated the acquisition of true intellect through doubt and thinking; Kant, on the other hand, believed that true knowledge is obtained through rational thinking and the accumulation of experience.

Emphasis on Reason: All three philosophers believe that reason is one of the most important human abilities that can help humans know and understand the world. Plato believed that ideas are the product of human reason and the basis for human understanding of the world; Descartes believed that true knowledge could only be attained through rational thinking; Kant emphasized the need to regulate human behavior and judgment through reason.

The search for truth: All three philosophers believe that truth can be explored and discovered, and needs to be obtained through constant thinking and **. Plato believed that truth exists in the transcendent idea and needs to be obtained through philosophical metaphysical thinking; Descartes, on the other hand, believed that truth could be obtained by doubting and thinking; Kant, on the other hand, believed that truth is obtained through the accumulation of reason** and experience, and needs to be verified by the scientific method.

Emphasis on morality: All three philosophers believe that morality is the foundation and norm of human behavior, and the underpinning of human society and individual life. Plato believed that morality is transcendental, existing in ideas; Descartes, on the other hand, believed that morality is based on reason and is the manifestation of human freedom and responsibility; Kant believed that morality is based on human reason and is a universally applicable standard of human behavior.

Concern for human self-knowledge: All three philosophers believe that human beings need to understand themselves and the world through self-knowledge. Plato believed that human beings need to know themselves and the world through philosophical reflection and transcendent metaphysics; Descartes, on the other hand, believed that human beings need to know themselves and the world through doubt and thinking; Kant believed that human beings need to understand themselves and the world through rational thinking, and at the same time, they need to pay attention to their own subjective feelings and emotions.