What Does it Mean to Orient Oneself in Thinking?
German title: "
Was heißt: sich im Denken orientieren?"
Published: October 1786, Königsberg in Prussia, Germany.
By Immanuel Kant (Born in 1724 and died in 1804)
Translation into English by Daniel Fidel Ferrer
(March, 17, 2014). The day of Holi in India in 2014.
From 1774 to about 1800, there were three intense
philosophical and theological controversies underway in Germany, namely:
Fragments Controversy, the Pantheism Controversy, and the Atheism
Controversy. Kant’s essay translated
here is Kant’s respond to the Pantheism Controversy. During this period (1770-1800), there was the
Sturm und Drang (Storm and Urge (stress)) movement with thinkers like Johann
Hamann, Johann Herder, Friedrich Schiller, and Johann Goethe; who were against
the cultural movement of the Enlightenment (Aufklärung). Kant was on the side
of Enlightenment (see his
Answer the Question: What is Enlightenment? 1784).
What Does it Mean to Orient Oneself in Thinking? / By Immanuel Kant (1724-1804).
[
Was heißt: sich im Denken orientieren? English].
Translation of text, notes, essays, chronology, etc by
Copyright ©2014 Daniel Fidel Ferrer.
All rights reserved. But free unlimited distribution. Public domain.
Creative Commons General Public License "Attribution,
Non-Commercial",
version 3.0 (CCPL BY-NC).
Translator makes no claim that this is the best translation.
See page 26 for the bibliography of earlier translations.
Kant's German essay is 225+ years old and it is difficult to translate.
Table of Contents
Translator’s Short Preface for Historical Context (pages 3-4).
Immanuel Kant’s Text translated into English (pages 5-22).
Translator’s Remarks (pages 23-24).
Notes and Background for Kant’s essay and translation (page 25).
Earlier translations from German into English of Kant’s essay (page 26).
Pantheism Controversy (Quarrel) (Pantheismusstreit) (pages 27-28). Chronology of the Pantheism Controversy (Quarrel) (pages 29-37).
Main Philosophers and authors. Ranked by birth year.
Lessing first quarrel. Fragments Controversy.
Pantheism Controversy or Pantheism Quarrel starts.
Atheism Controversy.
What is the Purpose of Kant’s Orientation Essay? (pages 38-42).
Selected Bibliography related to Pantheism Controversy (pages 42-43).
Related Online Resources (pages 43-44).
Kant’s Note on his Overall Philosophical Position (pages 45-47).
Dedication and Acknowledgements (pages 48-49).
Appendix A. Image of first page of Kant Essay (1786) (pages 49-51).
Keyword index (pages 51-83). Starts with a green page.
Daniel Fidel Ferrer.