Caroline Armbruster

 

Course: Philosophy 301

Instructor: Dr. Barbara Forrest

Assignment: Research

   

Immanuel Kant was one of the greatest Enlightenment philosophers and thinkers. His philosophical works included essays on science, religion, and ethics. His political theories were greatly influenced by the international and domestic affairs that occurred during his lifetime. He lived much of his life under Frederick the Great, who encouraged enlightened thought; however, he also lived much of his life during an age of war and absolutism. Kant believed that the problems of Europe and his country, Prussia, could be solved with reason and enlightened ideas. In his political works, he outlined steps for a universally peaceful Europe. He believed that nations could exist in a state of peace and work toward the common goals of mankind. His goal was to outline a way to cease war and conflict, and he used the ideas of the Enlightenment in order to achieve this.

The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 effectively ended the Thirty Years War in Europe, ending a prolonged period of religious and political dispute. Soon after, the seventeenth century gave way to an important era called the Age of Enlightenment. After a long period of war, Europe went through many cultural, social, and intellectual changes. Education and literacy became more available. “The place of Christianity in social and political life” also changed vastly across Europe.1 Theology ceased to be the only source of knowledge and authority. People began to believe that reason was far more important than religion when it came to learning. Critical reasoning and analysis became the basis for natural, social, political, and moral philosophy. Immanuel Kant enthusiastically supported these beliefs. In his essay, “What is Enlightenment?,” Kant offered his own definition of enlightened thought. He believed in society’s ability to think for itself and without “self-incurred tutelage.”2 He believed that a person must have the courage to think independently of authority. His motto of the Enlightenment was, “Have courage to use your own reason!”3

Germany entered the Enlightenment later than the rest of Europe. The German equivalent of the Enlightenment, which began in the middle of the eighteenth century, was termed the Aufklärung. The German Enlightenment, while similar in many ways to the European Enlightenment, was also very different. Across Europe and much of the world, people were questioning the authority of their sovereigns. King Louis XVI of France was overthrown and executed in 1789. The French people, led by influential figures such as Maximilien Robespierre, used enlightened ideas about government and politics as the basis for their revolution. The American Revolutionary War began in 1775, in which the American colonies of Great Britain rejected the authority of King George III. Leaders of the Revolutionary War, such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, also based their beliefs on the Enlightenment. However, the German people, particularly in the state of Prussia, were satisfied with the authority of their sovereign and their aristocracy. Under enlightened monarchs, such as Frederick the Great, philosophers and intellectuals were given much freedom. However, they remained submissive to the authority of their sovereign. After the Thirty Years War, Prussia and the German states fell into a state of absolute rule.

Under rulers such as Frederick the Great of Prussia, many government administrators and officials in Germany also used enlightened ideas and applied them in practice to policy reforms. Frederick considered himself to be an enlightened monarch; however, he believed that matters of state and politics came before freedom of thought. His policies had more to do with economic, social, and military reforms than with enlightened philosophy. At heart, Frederick was more of an absolutist ruler than an enlightened one.

While Immanuel Kant’s definition of enlightenment rejected the authority and tutelage of sovereigns, he conceded on the matter when it came to enlightened absolutism. Kant believed that an enlightened society had the ability to govern itself and produce its own rational ideas. However, he did not believe that Prussia was a fully enlightened society. Rather, it was a society moving towards an enlightened age. Until that time, Kant believed that “it was necessary to have strong rulers who could guarantee political stability.”4 This belief became the foundation for Kant’s political philosophy. While he believed in the eventual ability of people to govern and think for themselves without a sovereign, he also believed that government was “a rationally necessary institution.”5

Like many other enlightened thinkers, Kant applied scientific reasoning to issues of government and international relations. He was greatly influenced by the events occurring across Europe and within Prussia. He lived in a very uncertain time and in a country ravaged by war. Kant agreed with the government on many issues, but he also rejected many traditional political ideas and concepts. He rejected autocracy, standing armies, and the domination of one state by another. Many considered it radical to challenge these ideas.

Because Immanuel Kant lived much of his life under the rule of Frederick II, or Frederick the Great (r. 1740-1786), Frederick’s laws and system of rule greatly influenced Kant’s life and method of thought. Frederick supported the ideas of the Enlightenment. He enjoyed reading and discussing philosophy. He supported the work of German philosophers such as Kant. However, he preferred French culture, language, and philosophy to German culture. Philosophers such as Voltaire had the greatest impact on his philosophical beliefs. Due to his enlightened beliefs and love of philosophy, his contemporaries gave him the title of the “Enlightened Despot.” He was also extremely popular with his people. However, many also referred to him as “Frederick the Unique” due to his “complex personality.”6

For Frederick the Great, there was always “a conflict of individual and political ethics.”7 He believed in the enlightened ideas of human welfare and freedom, but he also believed that politics and matters of state came first. His ultimate goal was the advancement of Prussia onto the European political stage. At the beginning of his reign, Prussia was a relatively weak and poor state. It was also a very diverse state. Prussia, and most of Germany, contained many different cultures, languages, and religions. Frederick managed to transform Prussia into a strong, centralized nation that was able to compete with powerful countries such as Austria and France. Like Kant, Frederick enthusiastically supported competition between nations. He believed that, without this competition, no nation would be able to grow or develop. Frederick the Great “declared self-interest to be the ultimate moving force of politics,” and his political goals always came before his enlightened aspirations.8

Frederick believed in a contract theory between the ruler and the people within a state. An absolute ruler would create laws that ensured the security and happiness of the people. For Frederick, this usually meant military security. He spent much of his time and money on Prussia’s military expeditions and believed that the monarch was also responsible for social progress and welfare. However, if international or domestic disturbances arose, this progress had to be limited. The monarch had a responsibility “to humanize the government to the highest degree compatible with outward security.”9 Along with a desire for enlightened progress, Frederick ultimately desired personal power and triumph. His desire for fame and respect caused him to bring Prussia into the middle of European international politics.

In the period after the Thirty Years War, Prussia became one of Europe’s great powers. Frederick the Great used international politics to raise Prussia’s standing in Europe. Circumstances after the Thirty Years War caused the German aristocracy to become tied to the absolute monarch. Lack of trade in German lands caused cities to become weak and nobles to become poor, and Frederick took advantage of this to create an absolutist state. This powerfully centralized German state lasted for hundreds of years.

Frederick the Great was part of the Prussian Hohenzollern dynasty. His grandfather, Elector Frederick III, changed his title and became the first King of Prussia, Frederick I. He greatly augmented the status and power of the monarchy. Frederick I was also responsible for building up the Prussian court. Rather than having many powerful nobles scattered across the country, he brought all of the nobles to serve him at court, thus creating more unity within the aristocracy and more loyalty to the monarch. Frederick William I, the father and predecessor of Frederick the Great, was responsible for building up the Prussian army. Frederick William allowed “80 percent of state revenues” to be spent on the peacetime army.10 Frederick the Great inherited all of these changes and modifications to the Prussian government. However, when Frederick the Great took the throne in 1740, Prussia was still considered “an economically backward country, whose power could scarcely be compared with that of the established major European states.”11 He used the absolutist changes of his predecessors to transform Prussia into a state capable of participating in international politics.

Frederick the Great used war and politics to fully transform Prussia into a powerful, centralized state. During the War of the Austrian Succession from 1740 to 1748, Prussia won the Austrian Hapsburg territory of Silesia. However, it was Prussia’s success in the Seven Years War that established the country as a European power. Against the strong alliance of Austria, France and Russia, Prussia managed to hold its possession of Silesia once again. Due to Frederick’s strong leadership and military skills, Prussia could now participate in important international issues, such as the First Partition of Poland.

Immanuel Kant’s political philosophy was greatly influenced by these important changes across Europe and within Prussia. Kant was born after the Thirty Years War had already ended, but Europe was by no means peaceful. Much of Kant’s political writings included solutions to war and conflict. He saw an enlightened society as one without need for war and hostility in which nations could work interdependently. He acknowledged the fact that Prussia and the rest of Europe were not yet part of an enlightened society. He outlined the methods for achieving the enlightenment of nations. However, he acknowledged the “political problem of applying the universal norms to day-to-day politics” when outlining these methods.12 Kant understood the current conditions of Europe and realized that his outline for achieving peace and enlightenment would not be achieved in his lifetime.

Kant’s essay, “Perpetual Peace,” was one of his last works. In Section I of this essay, Kant outlines articles for peace among states. In the first article, he explains that peace treaties should not be made with the provision for imminent war. Using reason as a guide, he rationalizes that treaties should be a means to the end of all war. They should not be made with the acceptance that war will continue. The second article argues that no state should be dominated by another. This was in direct conflict with the political policies of Frederick the Great, who had captured the territory of Silesia from Austria and forced it under Prussian control. The third article of this essay was also in direct conflict with Prussian policies. Kant argues that, for the sake of perpetual peace, no state should possess standing armies. At the time, Prussia had one of the largest standing armies in Europe. Kant saw standing armies as a constant potential for war and as a financial drain on the state. With standing armies, Kant believed that “the cost of peace … becomes more oppressive than that of a short war.”13 He also argues for the elimination of debt between states and the cessation of hostile actions, such as employing spies and assassins. With these preliminary articles, Kant believed that states could achieve peace among one another.

In “Idea for a Universal History from a Cosmopolitan Point of View,” Kant explains his belief that Germany and the rest of Europe are steadily moving towards an enlightened age. He believed that all mankind, whether they knew it or not, were moving toward the same goal. He also believed that there was possibly “a history with a definite natural plan for creatures who have no plan of their own.”14 In this essay, Kant lists nine theses explaining the nature of the goal or plan of mankind. Kant believed that the goal of mankind was to reach the highest development of reason. This goal cannot be achieved by an individual, but rather by the human race as a whole. Nature, the architect of this plan, does not care whether an individual lives well. Its only concern is that an individual “make himself, through his own actions, worthy of life and well-being.”15

Like Frederick the Great, Immanuel Kant believed that nations grow only through opposition. In “Idea for a Universal History,” Kant’s Fourth Thesis explains the need for opposition or antagonism between states. He believed this antagonism was “the cause of a lawful order among men.”16 In the Sixth Thesis, Kant also explains the need for a master or a ruler. Without a ruler, individuals will abuse others’ freedom. This belief agrees with the contract theory that Frederick the Great accepted. Like Frederick, Kant believed it was the responsibility of the monarch to ensure laws and rules that ensured the welfare of his people. It was also the responsibility of the monarch and other politicians to instruct citizens on morality.

Kant also developed an idea for an institution similar to the present United Nations or the League of Nations formed after World War I. He believed that this association of nations would ensure personal freedom and tranquility. On the path towards enlightenment, Kant believed that this creation would mark the halfway point for mankind. Since Kant’s death, such an association of nations has been created. Therefore, according to Kant, society has moved forward towards its ultimate goal since his time.

Immanuel Kant died realizing that Prussia and the rest of Europe had not reached a state of enlightenment. His political works were radically innovative in a time when success at war determined the strength of a nation. Under Frederick the Great, Prussia was a tolerant society; however, it was also an absolutist state. Prussia became a world power during Kant’s time due to Frederick’s military campaigns and effective domestic administration. Kant accepted Frederick’s rule and the contract theory between the people and the sovereign of a nation. However, in his essays he outlines radical changes that would need to take place in order to ensure peace between nations and domestic tranquility.

______________________

1 Mary Fulbrook, A Concise History of Germany (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990), 85.

2 Immanuel Kant, On History: “What is Enlightenment?,” ed. and trans. by Lewis White Beck (Indianapolis: Bobbs—Merrill Company, Inc., 1963), 3.

3 Kant.

4 Fulbrook, 93.

5 Otfried Höffe, Immanuel Kant, trans. Marshall Farrier (Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1994), 180.

6 Hajo Holborn, A History of Modern Germany: 1648–1840 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1964), 237.

7 Holborn, 240.

8 Holborn, 241.

9 Holborn, 242.

10 Fulbrook, 78.

11 Fulbrook, 81.

12 Elisabeth Ellis, Kant’s Politics: Provisional Theory for an Uncertain World (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005), 70.

13 Immanuel Kant, On History: “Perpetual Peace,” ed. and trans. by Lewis White Beck (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1963), 87.

14 Immanuel Kant, On History: “Idea for a Universal History from a Cosmopolitan Point of View,” ed. and trans. by Lewis White Beck (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1963), 12.

15 Kant, 14.

16 Kant, 15.

 

Bibliography

 

Bird, Graham, ed. A Companion to Kant. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, Ltd., 2006.

 

Bréhier, Émile. The Eighteenth Century. Vol. 5 of The History of Philosophy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967.

 

Ellis, Elisabeth. Kant’s Politics: Provisional Theory for an Uncertain World. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005.

 

Fulbrook, Mary. A Concise History of Germany. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990.

 

Höffe, Otfried. Immanuel Kant. Translated by Marshall Farrier. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1994.

 

Holborn, Hajo. A History of Modern Germany: 1648–1840. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1964.

 

Kant, Immanuel. On History: “Idea for a Universal History from a Cosmopolitan Point of View.” Edited and translated by Lewis White Beck. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1963.

 

———. On History: “Perpetual Peace.” Edited and translated by Lewis White Beck. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1963.

 

———. On History: “What is Enlightenment?” Edited and translated by Lewis White Beck. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1963.

Dr. Forrest’s Comments: Caroline Armbruster’s essay is an example of undergraduate composition at its best. In addition to being well-researched, Caroline has done an excellent job of integrating the political ideas of philosopher Immanuel Kant with the historical context of 18th-century Prussian politics that shaped his thinking. She tackles two difficult topics and handles both of them thoroughly and competently.