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Kant: A Very Short Introduction

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Scruton is able to pull off a brief but highly enlightening introduction of Kant. For those who find the perusal of the unabridged "Critique" a folly lacking in pure reason, this pocket sized gem seems the perfect answer. The size is rather deceptive when it comes to the density of matter it contains... It will definitely take focussed reading and a good deal of time to do justice to this book. Personally, I feel I myself haven't done enough of justice to this compact, loaded book.

Kant is one of those modern philosophers whose presence looms large over much of what has been achieved over the past couple of centuries in modern philosophy, and yet he is not very likely to be read in most introductory philosophy classes. Part of the difficulty lies with Kant's highly technical and oftentimes convoluted use of language, which gave even his contemporaries who were native German speakers some difficulties. The philosophers and scholars have since had a chance to debate, oftentimes vehemently, the "true" meaning of Kant's works and it is unlikely that those debates will end any time soon. With such formidable baggage, it would be very difficult for an absolute novice in philosophy to just plunge into Kant's work and start reading it on its own. A good first exposition by an expert is invaluable and this thin volume serves exactly such purpose. It does a remarkable job of delineating the scope of Kant's thought and bringing this philosopher to life for the new generation of readers.

"It is the greatest incumbency of a philosopher and becomes most seldom found anyway to be consistently ..." Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) wrote. If one connects this with his remark: "A religion, which makes humans dark, is wrong..." - then one has to brood, how consistent people have to behave versus a gloomy religion opinion. Since "September Eleven" one asks not only how to react versus the Islamistic fundamentalism, but also how to act against obstinately Christian crusade reflexes. Kant behaved with pleasure quite rationally to the at that time usual religiousness: But it almost was not possible to show more than quiet irony alike: "Metaphysics is a dark ocean without shores or lighthouse, strewn with many a philosophic wreck." Kant trusted in the strength of the law, trusted in the conscience, inherent to every human being. Pertinaciously he stuck to this believe - and expressed thereby a careful protest against the claim to power of the princely potentates and religion representatives. So he became a quiet advocate of the French idea of revolution while he declined any brute force at the same time. While insistently preaching the necessity of using rational intelligence, he became the indirect creator of the UN, the personification of that hope, that the community of nations should be able to come to in agreement to inform each other in such a way, that to harm each other can not be the interest of one's own mutually. Though Kant did not have the experiences of two World Wars, showing the effect of modern technology, destroying masses, he already wrote: "Anger is a shock that activates all one's strength to resist evil." We, at least, should have this anger. Into the today's meet his aphorism is encouraging: "If a man makes himself a worm, he must not complain when he is trodden on." Despite UNO or international Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, reason still has not been able to gain acceptance continuously reliably opposite a national horizon limitedness, though. Last Kant-quotation, spoken in direction to the first world, considering the troubles of the "third world": "Mankind could perhaps become richer by growing poorer and win by losing..." How is it about wasting resources? So, I think, we still need the spirit of Immanuel KANT!