The Most Influential Thinkers Of The German Enlightenment Era

Immanuel Kant was born April 22, 1724 in Kà ¶nigsberg. Kant is considered one of the most influential thinkers of the German Enlightenment era. He could easily be labeled one of the greatest and most important Western philosophers of all time. Kant was born the fourth of nine children to Johann and Anna Kant. His father was a harness maker, and the large family lived a rather humble life. The family practiced Pietism, an 18th-century branch of the Lutheran Church. As a result of this, Kant’s early education was at Saint George’s Hospital School and then Collegium Fredericianum, a Pietist school. In 1740, Kant entered at the University of Kà ¶nigsberg where he enrolled as a theology student. Six years later, the death of Kant’s father left him without income to continue his education and forced him to leave the university. For the next ten years, Kant worked as a private tutor for wealthy families. During this time away from school, Kant published numerous papers dealing with scientific questions surrounding rationalism and empiricism. The most important being General Natural History of Theory of the Heavens, which he published in 1755. In this work, Kant talks about the origin of the solar system and concludes it was a result of gravitational connection of atoms. After his publication and returning to school to receive his doctorate of philosophy, Kant spent the next fifteen years as a lecturer and tutor for the University of Kà ¶nigsberg. Even with the work load that came withShow MoreRelatedThe Enlightenment of the 17th and 18th Century Essay1186 Words   |  5 Pages French intellectual leaders of the Enlightenment were bankers, merchants, and professional men who had education and wealth. 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