The A Priori Basis Of Kant's Personality Theory

Kant's theory of person has a deep origin in western civilization.The issue of person has been discussed in different levels by the jurists of ancient Rome,the theologians of Middle Ages,and the scholars of the Enlightenment.Kant inherited the enlightened thought which emphasizes the reason of human beings and the value of freedom and equality.He constructed those core ideas in the way of his transcendental philosophy.And by doing so,Kant concluded that freedom is the nature of person.This idea,which was constructed by Kant,has its profound influence in the German classical thought.The thesis will follow the thought of Kant to combine his discussion about person,interpreting his system of personal theory.The great contribution of Kant is his transcendental approach to build freedom and equality upon person.He criticized the former misunderstanding of the person in order to limit the range of theoretical reason.By contrast,the concept of person and personality must be comprehended in the sense of practical philosophy.Kant believed that our reason has not only epistemic function,but also practical use,which is prior to the former and brings content to the theory of person.As rational being,person has the ability that he can make decisions by his own,free from any impulsion,and act only upon the moral law,which generates the real morality.Meanwhile,this action can bring a person dignity.Person is the antecedent of moral law and is free by nature.Kant argued that person is distinct in nature from any other non-rational beings in that humans have the freedom-based moral law.Self-lawmaking of reason ask every person to take everyone as the end instead of means only.Therefore,anyone of us is equal in the sense of transcendental philosophy.Finally Kant build up the fundamental basis of equality and freedom with human reason.This thesis will also endeavor to show the structure of Kant's argument,and trace on the element of the enlightenment thoughts in Kant's theoretical system,for the purpose of underlining his profundity.Then it will discuss the impact and significance of transcendental theory of person to western,especially to German history of thoughts.This perspective of person is quite unusual in the study of person in Kant's research.