Through time philosophies have developed into complex abstractions from their original
concept and their original thinker. Philosophers have also grown to be more complex compared
to those who have come before them. As more and more complex philosophers and philosophies
develop it can be easily difficult to understand the concepts that they wish to elaborate on. As we
progressively move forward as a species, we begin to move away from old concepts and thinking
that no longer have use for us in our modern daily lives. This begins to create a new standard
from the old standard. Some concepts of the old standard are kept, while others are replaced with
new ones that are more sound and relevant to the time that they are taking place. It’s important to
learn where we have come from as well as where we are headed. Understanding how something
was previously done allows us to appreciate how we do it now. In order to understand how we
think now as human beings, we must go back and read what others have thought about when
they began to answer the questions that are difficult for a philosopher to answer. After reading
the various philosophers the one that explains these questions and answers with simplicity the
best is Immanuel Kant.
The first concept that I like very much is the concept of phenomena and noumena of a
thing. There are two parts to the thing: the phenomena which is the surface of the thing and
noumena which is the essence of the thing. The phenomena, being the surface of the thing, can
be clearly observed without bias. This is the part of the thing that I can know. In order to observe
without bias we must return to the part of Descartes philosophy of rejecting others observations,
suggestions, and research about the thing. This in turn gives us a clear thought in our mind about
the thing and the parts of the thing that I can observe. This leads to your own original thought
about that thing before someone came along and shared with you their original thought on that
particular thing. This could possibly be a basic theory on how our knowledge is built in our
minds. Others before and after us help us shape our knowledge on a particular thing so that we
not only know one particular about the thing, but several that help us think differently about the
thing in different situations.
Now is an important time to discuss the thing. When first written, read, and discussed
about the thing was probably applied to inanimate objects such as a ball, or an atom. We can take
what we think as things and apply them to multiple things in our lives. The most interesting is
thought. We can take any thought that we have had and break it down into its basic premise and
see that doing so we can find the causes of our actions. So the thing is not only limited to
material objects outside of the mind, but inside as well.
The noumena of the thing, being the center or essence of the thing, is the part of the thing
that I cannot know. This is the part of the thing that cannot be observed because it is beneath the
surface. Take the atom for example. It is made of parts that we know: neutrons, protons, and
electrons. It is also make of what we do not know: what makes these particular parts the way
they are, what is holding these parts of the atom together, and what originally sent these parts
into motion in order to come together and make a particular atom. This can be expanded to the
causes of the universe. No matter how advanced our scientific equipment, research, and
development become, we can only still speculate on how the universe came into existence. From
the past to the present, people have been progressively moving these studies forward, ever
getting closer to the essence of a thing. I would be safe to assume that we will not see the essence
in our life time. This can also be applied to our thoughts: we can clearly see and observe our
actions, but where does the cause of these actions come from. Clearly they come from our brain,
but what causes our brain to think them and have our bodies act them out. Human beings all
share common nomena such as the evolution of human beings. We can only speculate how we
came into existence because the technology to record events was not in existence. No matter how
hard we try we cannot get to the essence of what really took place. This could be applied to
events in our lives as they unfold. For example, when you first learned how to ride a bicycle you
create an essence, the essence of bicycle riding. After you keep riding your bicycle you begin to
learn more about how to ride it, what you can do, what you need to do for safety. After this
begins to occur you begin to move away from the essence of how you learned and first learned
how to ride a bicycle. Attaining an understanding of phenomena and noumena allows us to
further discover and investigate the world around us as it unfolds.
The second concept of Kant was totally devastating to me in that it totally gave me
another perspective in dealing with three of the most asked questions that mankind has been
asked; self, cosmos, and God. In one swift move Kant takes the three most important things that
are common to every human being on this planet and establishes a unifying concept between
them that permeates into the phenomena of these three things that we experience. The unifying
concept between these three things is that they are inescapable, unavoidable, and devastating to
every human being on this planet. Realizing what I have written I have just been blindsided by
my very own explanation of this very concept. In dealing with self, I have experienced the
unifying quality; I am also participating in trying to clarify these three things that cannot be
completely known in a short amount of existence that is shared between every human being on
this planet. To avoid the cosmos would mean not to exist. That is quite impossible for every
human being that has existed on this planet. It is even experienced in death far beyond our scope
of experience because once we exist on this planet, we exist throughout time. No matter how big
we become or how many layers end up covering our bodies, on the molecular level we still
experience the forces of the cosmos. A simple understanding of this concept would lead to a
clean Earth. To end a dispute between every religion that has existed and has been claimed to be
the one true religion he answers all their question of God with one solution: every person that has
existed on this planet will in one way or another experience God, with or without religion. Those
that do experience God through religion must understand that no matter what their faith says
about their God, it is only one solution to the answer pertaining to God. It is said that these are
transcendental ideas and that we must rise above them. I believe that we must first experience
them, through all the difficulties that may come in dealing with each before we reach the time
when we rise above the need for a concrete explanation of each. This is could be a simple
definition of the human experience. Realizing this clearly gives an explanation of every
experience that we have had as a child to maturing as an adult, and why some experiences are
tailored to soften the blow of reality.
There are several points in his moral philosophy that are most important in the human
experience. The first point is practical reason over theoretical reason. In simpler times, that
which Kant lived in, the most practical reason was to have street smarts over book smarts. In a
way he gives a deeper clue in experiencing the world. In order to deal with theoretical reason one
must have all practical reasons understood first. After creating a mind with a solid understanding
of practical reasons, then the process of theoretical reason can begin.
The second point is we’re slaves phenomenally, but free noumanally. We are all slaves in
that we are all subject to experience no matter what is being experienced, but we are free to
choose how we deal with these experiences. Given the choice, we can move to the idea that
forcefully trying to get someone to do something that they don’t want to will not help them see
the truth and that we should respect that part of the human experience. There is also a
responsibility with this in that it is up to every human being to help others progress toward the
truth no matter how long it takes. This experience is a milestone in the human experience.
The third point is no calculations are possible in morality. Every human being is in
escapable from choosing a good action from a bad action. No matter how hard we try we cannot
escape the consequences of our good or bad actions, if so, then the easiest consequences to
experience is those resulting from good actions. Every bad action has a degree to which we
receive the consequences. The increase of the severity of the bad action leads to a corresponding
level of consequence.
The fourth point is act as if the maxim of your action were to become universal law.
Taking the previous point in consideration, this would lead people to display good actions
constantly. Doing so sets an example; the more people that participate in these particular good
actions the more people will come to accept them and begin to act them out as well. There is a
unforeseen danger to this: as time progresses the need to maintain these good actions and begin
to slough on keeping them in check. The best way to maintain a level of satisfaction that is
accepted by everyone is through moderation. Sometimes we tire of constantly needing to keep
these actions in check and sometimes miss the opportunity. A constant reminder of good actions
and bad actions allows for a person to keep his actions guided toward the good without having
too much self restraint.
Understanding this point helps us understand the purpose of our actions. It is: act as if the
other human person were not only a means, but a goal of your action as well. Understanding that
if your actions are good and that the consequences are good, then you would pass this good
action on to other human persons. This is a very delicate point in that it also reveals how
manipulative a person can become in their actions, good or bad. Even too much of a good thing
can become bad.
Although devastating, through these simple concepts I have learned a new way in dealing
with my experience of human existence. It has been always in me to search for a basic principle
in a thought in order to build upon and see where we have come along in the development of that
particular thought be it a car, an arrangement of sound, or even a complex theory. Through
Kant’s philosophy I have been able to build upon a solid foundation of understanding of the
experiences of my human existence.