Art History | Immanuel Kant

Immanuel Kant was born on April 22, 1724, in Kaliningrad, Russia. While tutoring, he published science papers, including "General Natural History and Theory of the Heavens" in 1755. He spent the next15 years as a metaphysics lecturer. In 1781, he published the first part of Critique of Pure Reason. He published more critiques in the years preceding his death on February 12, 1804, in Königsberg,Russia.
Childhood and education
The fourth of nine children of Johann Georg and Anna Regina Kant, Immanuel Kant was born in the town of Königsberg, East Prussia, on April 22, 1724. Johann Kant was aharness maker, and the large family lived a humble life. The family belonged to a Protestant religious group of Pietists (a German religious movement whose members strongly believed in religiousexperience and biblical study), and a concern for religion touched every aspect of their lives. Although Kant became critical of formal religion, he continued to admire the "praiseworthy conduct" ofPietists. Kant's elementary education was at Saint George's Hospital School and then at the Collegium Fredericianum, a Pietist school, where he remained from 1732 until 1740. Here he gained a deepappreciation for the classics of Latin literature, especially the poet Lucretius.
In 1740 Kant entered the University of Königsberg. He became interested in philosophy, mathematics, and the natural sciences.The death of Kant's father in 1746 left him without income. He became a private tutor for seven years in order to have enough time and money to continue his education. During this period Kantpublished several papers dealing with scientific questions. The most important was the "General Natural History and Theory of the Heavens" in 1755. In this work Kant concluded the origin of the solar systemwas a result of the gravitational (having to do with the force exerted between bodies of matter) connection of atoms (the smallest pieces of matter). In the same year Kant presented a Latin...