Kant (Immanuel Kant)

Immanuel Kant was an 18th-century German philosopher known for his work in ethics, metaphysics, and epistemology. He argued that human knowledge is shaped by both experience and inherent structures in our minds. His key idea is that morality comes from reason, guiding us to act according to universal principles, often summarized in the "Categorical Imperative," which states we should act only according to maxims that we would want to be universal laws. Kant's ideas emphasize the importance of autonomy, rationality, and the moral duty to treat others as ends in themselves, not merely as means to an end.