There are certain common characteristics of the German idealists, which can be mentioned before
embarking upon detail.
The critique of knowledge, as a means of reaching philosophical conclusions, is emphasized by
Kant and accepted by his followers. There is an emphasis upon mind as opposed to matter, which
leads in the end to the assertion that only mind exists. There is a vehement rejection of utilitarian
ethics in favour of systems which are held to be demonstrated by abstract philosophical
arguments. There is a scholastic tone which is absent in the earlier French and English
philosophers; Kant, Fichte, and Hegel were university professors, addressing learned audiences,
not gentlemen of leisure addressing amateurs. Although their effects were in part revolutionary,
they themselves were not intentionally subversive; Fichte and Hegel were very definitely
concerned in the defence of the State. The lives of all of them were exemplary and academic; their
views on moral questions were strictly orthodox. They made innovations in theology, but they did
so in the interests of religion.
With these preliminary remarks, let us turn to the study of Kant.
B. OUTLINE OF KANT'S PHILOSOPHYImmanuel Kant ( 1724-1804) is generally considered the greatest of modern philosophers. I cannot
myself agree with this estimate, but it would be foolish not to recognize his great importance.
Throughout his whole life, Kant lived in or near Königsberg, in East Prussia. His outer life was
academic and wholly uneventful, although he lived through the Seven Years' War (during part of
which the Russians occupied East Prussia), the French Revolution, and the early part of
Napoleon's career. He was educated in the Wolfian version of Leibniz's philosophy, but was led to
abandon it by two influences: Rousseau and Hume. Hume, by his criticism of the concept of
causality, awakened him from his dogmatic slumbers--so at least he says, but the awakening was
only temporary, and he soon invented a soporific which enabled him to sleep again. Hume, for
Kant, was an adversary to be refuted, but the influence of Rousseau was more profound. Kant was
a man of such regular habits that people used to set their watches by him as he passed their doors
on his con-