Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Of or relating to Immanuel Kant or his philosophy: Pertaining to the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), his ideas, or the system of thought he developed, known as Kantianism or Critical Philosophy.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The professor presented a Kantian analysis of moral duty. (The analysis was based on the principles of Immanuel Kant's philosophy.)
  • Her argument has a distinctly Kantian framework. (The structure of her argument is characteristic of Kant's philosophical approach.)

Advanced Usage

• "Kantian ethics": Refers specifically to the moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant, centered on concepts like the categorical imperative and duty.
  • The debate focused on the implications of Kantian ethics for modern law.
• "Kantian turn": A reference to a fundamental shift in philosophical thinking initiated by Kant, particularly his focus on the limits and structure of human knowledge.
  • The Kantian turn emphasized the role of the mind in constituting experience.

Variants and Related Words

• Kantianism (n): The philosophical system developed by Immanuel Kant.
  • Kantianism seeks to reconcile empiricism and rationalism.
• Neo-Kantian (adj/n): Pertaining to, or a proponent of, later philosophical movements that revived or reinterpreted Kant's ideas, especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
  • The Neo-Kantian school was influential in redefining the methodology of the social sciences.

Synonyms

• Critical (in the specific philosophical sense established by Kant): Pertaining to Kant's "Critique" series (e.g., ).
• Transcendental (in the Kantian sense): Relating to the conditions of human experience and knowledge.

Related Phrases

• Categorical imperative: A central concept in Kantian ethics, a universal moral law that is unconditional and derived from reason.
  • Acting from duty, according to the categorical imperative, is the core of Kantian morality.
• Thing-in-itself (noumenon): A key Kantian concept referring to reality as it is independently of our perception, which is fundamentally unknowable.
  • Kant distinguished between the phenomenal world we experience and the thing-in-itself.

Adjective

1. of or relating to Immanuel Kant or his philosophy