Few people have changed our world as profoundly as Immanuel Kant. 250 years ago he revolutionized philosophy: his Critique of Pure Reason and the categorical imperative continue to shape our thinking to this day. His famous motto of the Enlightenment was: “Have the courage to use your own understanding!”
Kant led a quiet life, spending more than seventy of his nearly eighty years in the East Prussian city of Königsberg. Yet he lived in an age of profound change: natural scientists such as Newton explained nature in new ways, Enlightenment thinkers criticized church and kings, and in North America and France the first modern democracies emerged.
The exhibition presents Kant’s world and his ideas. Following a biographical introduction, three main thematic areas offer access to his philosophy: knowledge, morality, and politics. Throughout the exhibition, the central questions keep returning: How does Kant’s thought impact us today? How can we critically develop his ideas further? Explore the variety of the individual stations and choose your own approach to Kant and his ideas.