East Prussia, c. 1800…

For whatever reason, Kant has loomed large on my landscape of late (uncanny, but I seem to encounter links or references to this thoughtful and eminently humanist 18th-century German philosopher at every turn). Following, a few more quotables from this epistemological pundit…

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All our knowledge begins with the senses, proceeds then to the understanding, and ends with reason. There is nothing higher than reason.

Always recognize that human individuals are ends, and do not use them as means to your end.

Experience without theory is blind, but theory without experience is mere intellectual play.

He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men.

We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.

If man makes himself a worm he must not complain when he is trodden on.

In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so.

Ingratitude is the essence of vileness.

It is beyond a doubt that all our knowledge begins with experience.

(the ultimate existentialist manifesto?)

It is not God’s will merely that we should be happy, but that we should make ourselves happy.

Metaphysics is a dark ocean without shores or lighthouse, strewn with many a philosophic wreck.

Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life.

Thoughts without content are empty, intuitions without concepts are blind.