Immanuel Kant was born in Konigsberg, which is now Kaliningrad, Russia, on April 22, 1722. He was the son of a saddler. (Copleston, 1960) Kant received his education at the Colleguim Fredericianum and the University of Konigsberg. While attending the college, he studied mostly the classics, and at the university he studied physics and mathematics. After his father died, he had to quit his university career and earn his living as a private tutor. In 1755, he was helped by a friend and resumed his studies and earned his doctorate. (Encarta, 2000)
             For 15 years after completing his doctorate he taught at the university where he lectured on science and math, but eventually he expanded his field to cover almost all branches of philosophy. Even though his lectures and writings during this period established his reputation as an original philosopher, he did not receive a chair at the university until 1770, when he was made professor of logic and metaphysics. He continued to teach and attract large numbers of students to Konigsberg for the next 27 years. (Encarta, 2000) His students felt he was a very good lecturer. His main goal in philosophical courses was to stimulate his listeners to “stand on their own feet” as he put it. (Copleston, 1960)
             Kant’s unorthodox religious teachings were based on rationalism rather than revelation and this brought him into conflict with the government of Prussia. In 1792 he was forbidden by Frederick William II, king of Prussia, to teach or write on religious subjects. He obeyed this order for five years until the death of the king. After the king’s death he no longer felt the need to obey this order. He retired from the university in 1797. In 1798, he published a summary of his religious views. (Encarta, 2000) From 1796 to 1803, Kant was working on preparing material for a book dealing with the transition from the metaphysics of Nature to physics. He felt th...