KARACHI, Oct 3: A discussion on German philosopher Immanuel Kant’s third philosophical question was held at the Goethe Institut Karachi on Saturday. The discussion was the third of this year’s Goethe Academy series. Syed Zeeshan Arshad, a faculty member at SZABIST, was the speaker.
In his introduction to the lecture, Goethe Institut’s Dr Markus Litz said that the lecture was part of the institut’s efforts to raise awareness and promote intellectual exchange. He then gave a brief background to the talk and said that famous German philosopher Kant wrote a book on religion which raised a lot of questions that proved groundbreaking in the later stages of the development of philosophical and theological thought.
Syed Zeeshan Arshad’s lecture was divided into three parts. The first one dealt with the background and the contextualisation of the question, the second one with the themes in the book Religion within the limits of reason alone and the third was food for thought.
Mr Arshad began by telling the rather thin audience that during Kant’s time a couple of movements had already taken root and scientific developments were in a collision course with religion. He said Kant was a rational as well as deeply religious person and led a very simple and mundane life, but his ideas changed the world. The four questions that the philosopher raised during his discourse were:
(1) What can I know? (epistemology)
(2) What ought I do know? (ethics)
(3) What may I hope for? (religion)
(4) What is human being (anthropology)… and the third question was the topic of discussion.
Mr Arshad said religion was important because it gave us hope that there was life after death, that there was punishment for wrongdoing and reward for good deeds etc… He said Kant was known to have said: “Two things fill my mind with ever new and increasing wonder and awe: the starry heavens above and the moral law within me.” Touching upon the subject of starry heavens, he said it was Newton who had defined how the universe worked; he gave order to nature. But it was the confusion inside the individual that was to be explored. So Kant wanted to do for metaphysics what Newton did for physics. Kant wanted to strike a balance between religion and science (rational deism and evangelical pietism).
Talking about the theme in the book Mr Arshad said it was important to understand Kant’s theory of Categorical Imperative, which is, “Act according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.” It meant you must do your duty whatever the result maybe. Mr Arshad followed it by concisely speaking about the four essays in the book, and how the publication of one of the essays was opposed by the then king. He said Kant’s philosophical thought led from the idea of the Kingdom of God to the Kingdom of Ends. The Kingdom of Ends is a hypothetical state of existence which is derived from Kant’s categorical imperative; it is a kingdom composed of rational beings capable of moral deliberation. ‘Rational beings must choose to act by maxims that have universality.’
During the questions answer session Mr Arshad said Kant had already become influential in his time (1724-1804) and his ideas were taken seriously. His ideas are still relevant in the 21st century, he said. |
