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"Here is the first Kant-biography in English since Paulsen's and Cassirer's only full-scale study of Kant's philosophy. On a very deep level, all of Cassirer's philosophy was based on Kant's, and accordingly this book is Cassirer's explicit coming to terms with his own historical origins. It sensitively integrates interesting facts about Kant's life with an appreciation and critique of his works. Its value is enhanced by Stephen Körner's Introduction, which places Cassirer's Kant-interpretation in its historical and contemporary context."-Lewis White Beck"The first English translation (well done by James Haden) of a 60-year-old classic intellectual biography. Those readers who know Kant only through the first Critique will find their understanding of that work deepened and illuminated by a long explication of the pre-critical writings, but perhaps the most distinctive contribution is Cassirer's argument that the later Critiques, and especially the Critique of Judgment, must be understood not as merely applying the principles of the first to other areas but as subsuming the latter into a larger and more comprehensive framework."-Frederick J. Crown, The Key Reporter"Kant's Life and Thought is that rare achievement: a lucid and highly readable account of the life and work of one of the world's profoundest thinkers. Now for the first time available in an admirable English translation, the book introduces the reader to two of the finest minds in the history of philosophy."-Ashley Montagu ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Approaching comprehension with great praise
It has been so long since the original German version of this biography of Kant was written by Ernst Cassirer in 1916 (and first published in 1918, due to "the delay inflicted by the war on the progress of the edition of the complete works," (p. 2) according to the Foreword by Ernst Cassirer dated August 14, 1918) that it might be considered quite proper that the recent biography of Kant by Manfred Kuehn deserves to be much more modern in its point of view.My review of Kuehn's book emphasized how modern Kant ought to be considered for someone who lived in his times.Kuehn also put a major emphasis on Kant's desire for perpetual peace, a topic which might have been considered questionable for anyone writing in German at the time when Cassirer was writing this book for use as a supplement to the study of Kant's complete works.

I should admit that I have not attempted the study of Kant's work in the manner for which this book is meant to be a guide.I might even be considered too political to be offered a position on such a faculty, so I have no expectation of ever becoming a professional philosopher, and furthermore, I might even be so comical that I would dare to consider Cassirer and Kant as representative of philosophers in the way that Merry and Pippin were typical of hobbits in the movie cycle, "The Lord of the Rings."The set of 4 DVD disks covering the first movie, "The Fellowship of the Ring," allows easy access to specific points in the movie, and scene 44, "The Breaking of the Fellowship," on the second disk, shows the two hobbits (knowing that Frodo Baggins was the only important target) acting as decoys, crying, "Hey!Hey, you!Over here!"Logically, this follows scene 40, "The Fighting Uruk-hai," in which Saruman declares his creation, the Uruk-hai, a perfect creature for war, much as Prussia is described as a highly disciplined place during Kant's life in this book.Philosophically, Kant's writings, which reflect his use of thought processes, can be selected and their relevance to "The whole moral voice of the Enlightenment, as it lived in the purest and greatest spirits," (p. 83) are here demonstrated as logically as Pippin and Merry's exclamations, "It's working!""I know it's working!Run!" could be considered a histrionic reflection of the admiration for tactics similar to the praise for Kant's philosophy which this book exhibits.

This book also exhibits an eagerness to bring God into every discussion in a manner which has become much less popular as the experience of the godly has been tied detrimentally to the likes of Osama bin Laden in the last hundred years or so.My interest in the early part of the book was primarily in comparing the competing Cosmologies of that time.Kant's early work, UNIVERSAL NATURAL HISTORY AND THEORY OF THE HEAVENS (March 14, 1755), which was dedicated just three months before Kant became a doctor of philosophy on the strength of his treatise, DE IGNE (ON FIRE), was not well known in his time because "The publisher had gone bankrupt while the work was in press; his entire warehouse was sealed up, and therefore this book never came onto the market."(p. 40).In attempting to think beyond the laws of motion which had been established by Newton for a Kantian cosmogony which Kant derives from such laws, "The planetary world in which the sun, acting with its powerful attraction from the center of all the orbits," (p. 47) is considered the cause of the planetary system, and particularly accounting for "the `unanimity of the direction and positions of the planetary orbits'." (p. 49)Kant also uses this explanation "in order to think of it as in proportion to the power of the Infinite Being, it must have no limits at all."(p. 47).Newton could have come to the same conclusion about the origins of planetary motion "if instead of seeking the physical bases of the system of astronomical phenomena exclusively in its present state he had turned his gaze backwards to the past of the system, if he had pushed forward from the consideration of the systematic state of the universe to its systematic becoming."(p. 49).

The big jolt in Kant's cosmology was caused by his attempt to comprehend a heavenly system of a different kind, described inPart 3 of the second chapter of this book. "The Critique of Dogmatic Metaphysics:DREAMS OF A SPIRIT-SEER," (pp. 77-92) on Kant becoming "aware of the marvelous tales surrounding the `visionary' Swedenborg, which led him to immerse himself deeper into Swedenborg's work, the ARCANA COELESTIA.We use this account here not to repeat it, but are content to make reference to it.Who will seriously believe that because he had bought the eight quarto volumes of Swedenborg's works, at a considerable outlay of trouble and expense, Kant would have decided to perform a literary analysis on the book?"(p. 79).Kant's book on Swedenborg "appeared anonymously" (p. 78) and he was determined that "I shall never become a fickle or fraudulent person, after having devoted the largest part of my life to studying how to despise those things that tend to corrupt one's honesty."[Kant to Mendelssohn, April 6, 1766] (p. 79).Swedenborg's ARCANA COELESTIA might still be considered a work in which the dreams of a religious writer were collected with more enthusiasm than anyone prior to Freud had shown for understanding his dreams, and Kant's problem stems in large part from Swedenborg's understanding of his dreams being considered an explanation of heavenly forces, or more often, of the conflicts between heavenly and hellish spirits.Cassirer is willing to venture "that the whole idea of the spiritual is due to habit and prejudice, rather than to exact scientific analysis."(p. 81).Lacking such habits, modern people can read this book for a philosophical guide to how Kant's thought went on from that point, or spend their time watching hobbits, with the 4 DVD disks that show how the "Lord of the Rings" movies were made, or make countless other choices.People who believe this book might spend a lot of time studying Kant, as the author certainly did.

What is Enlightenment?
One of the mysteries of the rise of the modern world is the sudden appearance of the grand phase of German philosophy beginning with the work of Kant, as his thought suddenly flowered late in life with his precipitousCritique of Pure Reason. Like an echo reverberating across the ages, Kant'sbreakthrough both recovered and surpassed the height to which philosophyhad reached in Plato. This thunderclap just at the takeoff of therevolutionary passage to a new era is the prelude to an entire new universeof thinking, and joins the world of science, the Enlightenment, with aworld as ancient as the Upanishads and as futuristic as Quantum Mechanics.Cassirer's philosophical biography is one of the clearest and most cogentintroductions to the Kant's life and work and is a classic in its ownright.

A Rewarding Read
Over the past few years, I had increasingly developed an interest in the Kantian system.I had approached several of Kant's most important works in order to gain an understanding of his thought, but I found that I oftenstruggled to make clear sense of many of his ideas.Although I hadobtained a basic knowledge of his philosophy and some lasting insights fromthese works, I found that Kant's method of presentation often presentedsome difficulties regarding a complete understanding of them.

ErnstCassirer's book provides the student of philosophy with an excellentelucidation of Kant'ssystem of critical thought and both thecharacteristics of this philosopher's personality and the currents ofthought that were prevalent during and preceding his lifetime that led himto develop the philosophic views for which he is well-known.Cassirer alsoamalgamates Kant's theoretical, ethical, and aesthetic aims into a wholesystem that reflects Kant's fundamental philosophical outlook.A greatdeal of material containing many subtle and frequently misconceived pointsis presented in a very clear, though well-detailed, way.Cassirer'sdiscussion of the Critique of Judgment, a book that has long stupified manyreaders, is especially thought-provoking.The impression one receives of Cassirer's deep admiration is understandable given the astonishingintellectual depth and breadth of Kant's achievementsThis book is highlyrecommended for anyone seeking a more profound understanding of Kant's lifeand works. ... Read more

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PREFACE The investigations contained in this volume were first prompted by studies in the philosophy of mathematics. In the course of an attempt to compreheud the fundamental conceptjons of mathcmu.tics from the point of view of logic, it became necessary to analyse more closely the function of the concept itself and to trace it back to its presuppositions. Here, however, a peculiar difficulty arose: the traditional logic of the concept, in its ,yell-known features, proved inadequate even to characterize the problems to which the theory of the principles of mathematics led. It became increasingly evident that exact science had here reached questions for which there existed no precise correlate in the traditionnllanguage of formal logic. The content of mathematical knowledge point.ed back to a fundamental form of the concept not clearly defined and recognized ,,,'ithin logic it.self. In part.icular, hlVestigations conccmiug the concepts of the series and of the limit, th

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more