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Teaching Kant

Five lesson plans along the usual curriculum topics, each for 45 or 90 minutes, with a worksheet to print. Plus a projector mode that keeps Kant's answer hidden until the class has voted.

Every plan follows the same structure: aim, three phases, matching devices from the workshop, prompt questions and a worksheet. The suggested year groups are only a suggestion.

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1 · What is Enlightenment?

from age 14 · ethics, philosophy, literature, history

Aim

The class explains Kant's definition of enlightenment in their own words, distinguishes immaturity caused by a lack of understanding from self-incurred immaturity, and asks who “thinks for us” today.

Lesson outline

45 minutes

  1. Starter5 min

    Projector trial “What does Kant mean by enlightenment?” further down this page: count the raised hands, do not reveal yet.

  2. Main activity25 min

    Read the first paragraph of the essay (Ak. 8:35) together. Worksheet tasks 1 to 3 in pairs: explain immaturity, add present-day guardians to Kant's three (a book, a pastor, a physician).

  3. Consolidation15 min

    Reveal Kant's answer and compare it with the poll. Board summary: immaturity · self-incurred when resolution and courage are lacking · motto “Sapere aude”. Task 4 as homework.

90 minutes

  1. Starter10 min

    As in 45 minutes, plus a collection: where do you let others decide for you today?

  2. Main activity55 min

    First paragraph as above. Then the public and the private use of reason (Ak. 8:37): sort Kant's examples, the officer, the citizen paying his taxes and the clergyman, in groups. Kant's usage is surprising: “private” is the use within an office, “public” the use as a scholar before the entire reading public.

  3. Consolidation25 min

    Reveal, compare results, task 4 as a short statement. Every statement names a counter-argument.

Devices from the workshop

Further reading: Enlightenment

Prompt questions

  • Kant writes: “It is so comfortable to be immature.” When is it comfortable for you to let others decide?
  • Is someone who follows a satnav app immature? Where do you draw the line between using help and handing over your thinking?
  • Kant calls immaturity “self-incurred”. Is that fair to people who are denied an education?
  • An officer must obey on duty but may, as a scholar, publicly criticise mistakes in military service. Does this distinction convince you?

Questions of judgment have no right or wrong answer. What counts is a reason and the strongest opposing voice.

Worksheet

Prints only the sheet, one A4 page.
View worksheet

immanuel-kant.info · Worksheet · Plan 1

What is Enlightenment?

NameClassDate

To the material

Before you read

What does “mature” (mündig) mean to you?

“Enlightenment is the human being's emergence from his self-incurred immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to make use of one's own understanding without the guidance of another. This immaturity is self-incurred when its cause lies not in a lack of understanding but in a lack of resolution and courage to use it without the guidance of another.”

Kant, An Answer to the Question: What Is Enlightenment? (1784), Ak. 8:35, own translation

“It is so comfortable to be immature.”

ibid., Ak. 8:35, own translation

Task 1

Explain in your own words what Kant means by immaturity.

Task 2

When, according to Kant, is immaturity self-incurred? The answer is in the quotation above.

Task 3

Kant names three guardians: a book “that has understanding for me”, a pastor and a physician. Add three present-day ones and write what we leave to them.

Task 4

Your view: is it easier or harder today to make use of your own understanding? Give reasons and name a counter-argument.

Sources: korpora.org Ak. 8:35 · korpora.org Ak. 8:37 · Wikipedia Answering the Question: What Is Enlightenment? · www.immanuel-kant.info/en/aufklaerung

Sources: korpora.org: Ak. 8:35 · korpora.org: Ak. 8:37 · Wikipedia: Answering the Question: What Is Enlightenment?

2 · The categorical imperative, duty and inclination

ages 16 to 18 · ethics, philosophy, religious education

Aim

The class distinguishes acting in conformity with duty from acting from duty (Kant's shopkeeper, Ak. 4:397), applies the formula of universal law to the false promise (Ak. 4:421 f.) and sets the imperative apart from the Golden Rule (Ak. 4:430, note).

Lesson outline

45 minutes

  1. Starter5 min

    Kant's shopkeeper charges everyone the same price, even a child. Is he acting morally? Class poll in projector mode.

  2. Main activity25 min

    Worksheet tasks 1 and 2: the shopkeeper, then the false promise with the maxim tester on the projector. Guiding question: what happens if everyone acts like this?

  3. Consolidation15 min

    Consolidate: with the false promise the maxim cancels itself out, because no one would believe anything was promised to them any more (Ak. 4:422). Task 3 as homework, pointing to the second formula at the top of the worksheet (Ak. 4:429).

90 minutes

  1. Starter10 min

    As in 45 minutes.

  2. Main activity55 min

    As above, then the formula of humanity (“never merely as a means”, Ak. 4:429) and the Golden Rule: Kant does not accept it as a universal law, because the criminal could use it to argue against his judge (Ak. 4:430, note).

  3. Consolidation25 min

    Short talks: where does the Golden Rule fall short? To finish, Schiller's mocking distich “Scruples of Conscience” as an opposing voice to duty without inclination.

Devices from the workshop

Further reading: Ethics

Prompt questions

  • Is a good deed worth less if you enjoy doing it?
  • Kant says “never merely as a means”. Are you using the bus driver when you take the bus? What difference does the word “merely” make?
  • Why is it not enough for Kant that the shopkeeper serves everyone honestly?
  • “Do not do to others what you would not want done to you”: what does the Golden Rule test, and what does Kant's formula test?

Questions of judgment have no right or wrong answer. What counts is a reason and the strongest opposing voice.

Worksheet

Prints only the sheet, one A4 page.
View worksheet

immanuel-kant.info · Worksheet · Plan 2

The categorical imperative, duty and inclination

NameClassDate

To the material

Before you read

When is an action morally good for you?

“Act only according to that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it become a universal law.”

Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785), Ak. 4:421, own translation

“Act in such a way that you use humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, always at the same time as an end, never merely as a means.”

ibid., Ak. 4:429, own translation

Task 1

Kant's shopkeeper charges everyone the same price, “so that a child buys from him just as well as anyone else”, because it is good for business. Is he acting in conformity with duty or from duty? Give reasons (Ak. 4:397).

Task 2

Kant's example, paraphrased: “When I am short of money, I borrow money and promise to pay it back, although I know I never will.” What happens if everyone acts on this maxim (Ak. 4:422)?

Task 3

Who is used “merely as a means” in the false promise? Why does the formula contain the word “merely”?

Task 4

Kant thinks the Golden Rule cannot be a universal law; a criminal could use it to argue against his judge (Ak. 4:430, note). Explain this example.

Sources: korpora.org Ak. 4:397 · korpora.org Ak. 4:421 · korpora.org Ak. 4:422 · korpora.org Ak. 4:429 · korpora.org Ak. 4:430 · Wikipedia Categorical imperative · www.immanuel-kant.info/en/ethik

Sources: korpora.org: Ak. 4:397 · korpora.org: Ak. 4:421 · korpora.org: Ak. 4:422 · korpora.org: Ak. 4:429 · korpora.org: Ak. 4:430 · Wikipedia: Categorical imperative

3 · Duty ethics versus utilitarianism

ages 16 to 18 · ethics, philosophy, exam preparation

Aim

The class compares, on the same cases, how Kant and utilitarianism judge: for Kant what decides is the will that follows a maxim, for Bentham the greatest happiness of the greatest number. It names the strengths and limits of both theories without declaring either one the right one.

Lesson outline

45 minutes

  1. Starter10 min

    A case from the dilemma workshop in projector mode: the class votes before Kant's verdict and the opposing voice appear.

  2. Main activity25 min

    Worksheet: the principles of both theories (tasks 1 and 2), then the comparison table for two further cases in groups.

  3. Consolidation10 min

    Groups present: where do Kant and utilitarianism judge alike, where differently, and why?

90 minutes

  1. Starter10 min

    As in 45 minutes.

  2. Main activity50 min

    As above with four cases. Add the distinction between act and rule utilitarianism: do we judge the single action or the rule it follows?

  3. Consolidation30 min

    A debate in two rounds with roles swapped. To finish, task 4 on their own: where do you contradict yourself?

Devices from the workshop

Further reading: Ethics

Prompt questions

  • May one person be sacrificed to save five? What does Kant's procedure test, and what does utilitarianism test?
  • Kant calls only a good will good “without limitation”. Can an action with good intentions still be bad?
  • How do you measure happiness? Can the happiness of different people be added up?
  • Did you judge two cases by different principles? How do the cases differ for you?

Questions of judgment have no right or wrong answer. What counts is a reason and the strongest opposing voice.

Worksheet

Prints only the sheet, one A4 page.
View worksheet

immanuel-kant.info · Worksheet · Plan 3

Duty ethics versus utilitarianism

NameClassDate

To the material

Before you read

What matters more to you: the intention or the consequences of an action?

“It is impossible to think of anything at all in the world, or indeed even beyond it, that could be considered good without limitation except a good will.”

Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785), Ak. 4:393, own translation

“Good is what produces the greatest happiness of the greatest number.”

Jeremy Bentham, principle of utility, paraphrased (not a verbatim quotation)

Task 1

What, according to Kant, is good “without limitation”? What follows for how we judge an action?

Task 2

By what does utilitarianism, following Bentham, judge an action?

Task 3

Choose two cases from the dilemma workshop (QR code) and fill in the table.

CaseKant tests …Utilitarianism tests …My verdict

Task 4

Did you judge your two cases by different principles? How do the cases differ for you?

Sources: korpora.org Ak. 4:393 · Wikipedia Utilitarianism · Wikipedia Jeremy Bentham · Wikipedia Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals · www.immanuel-kant.info/en/ethik#dilemmas

Sources: korpora.org: Ak. 4:393 · Wikipedia: Utilitarianism · Wikipedia: Jeremy Bentham · Wikipedia: Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals

4 · Theory of knowledge: rationalism, empiricism, Kant's turn

ages 16 to 18 · philosophy

Aim

The class distinguishes rationalism (knowledge from reason) and empiricism (knowledge from experience), understands how Hume woke Kant from his “dogmatic slumber” (Ak. 4:260), and explains how Kant combines both sides: “Thoughts without content are empty, intuitions without concepts are blind” (CPR A 51/B 75).

Lesson outline

45 minutes

  1. Starter5 min

    Class poll: how do you know that 7 + 5 = 12, from experience or from thinking alone?

  2. Main activity25 min

    Briefly introduce the two camps (Descartes and Leibniz, Locke and Hume). Worksheet tasks 1 to 3; play the judgment lab (chapter on knowledge) together on the projector.

  3. Consolidation15 min

    Board summary: analytic and synthetic, a priori and a posteriori. Kant's guiding question: how are synthetic a priori judgments possible?

90 minutes

  1. Starter10 min

    As in 45 minutes.

  2. Main activity55 min

    As above, plus Hume's doubt about knowing causes, Kant's answer (cause as a concept of the understanding) and the Copernican turn (CPR B XVI) with its consequence: we know things as they appear to us, not as they are in themselves.

  3. Consolidation25 min

    Consolidate task 4 on Hume, then discussion: what follows if we cannot know things in themselves?

Devices from the workshop

Further reading: Knowledge

Prompt questions

  • Can you imagine an experience without space and time?
  • You can see that one billiard ball follows another. Can you also see that it moves the other one?
  • Is “Everything that happens has a cause” a sentence from experience? How can you tell?
  • What changes if we only know the world as it appears to us?

Questions of judgment have no right or wrong answer. What counts is a reason and the strongest opposing voice.

Worksheet

Prints only the sheet, one A4 page.
View worksheet

immanuel-kant.info · Worksheet · Plan 4

Theory of knowledge: rationalism, empiricism, Kant's turn

NameClassDate

To the material

Before you read

How do you know that 7 + 5 = 12?

“I freely admit: it was the remembrance of David Hume that, many years ago, first interrupted my dogmatic slumber and gave my investigations in the field of speculative philosophy an entirely different direction.”

Kant, Prolegomena (1783), Ak. 4:260, own translation

“Thoughts without content are empty, intuitions without concepts are blind.”

Kant, Critique of Pure Reason (1781/1787), A 51/B 75, own translation

Task 1

“Certain knowledge is gained by thinking alone.” – “All knowledge comes from experience.” Which sentence fits rationalism, which empiricism? Name one representative of each.

Task 2

Explain Kant's sentence from the Critique of Pure Reason (B 75) with an example of your own.

Task 3

Tick the right box. Kant's examples come from the introduction to the Critique of Pure Reason.

Judgmentanalytic a priorisynthetic a posteriorisynthetic a priori
All bodies are extended.
All bodies are heavy.
7 + 5 = 12
Everything that happens has a cause.

Task 4

What did Hume shake in Kant's earlier thinking? Read up in the chapter (QR code).

Sources: korpora.org Ak. 4:260 · korpora.org Ak. 3:75 (B 75) · Wikipedia Rationalism · Wikipedia Empiricism · Wikipedia Critique of Pure Reason · www.immanuel-kant.info/en/erkenntnis

Sources: korpora.org: Ak. 4:260 · korpora.org: Ak. 3:75 (B 75) · Wikipedia: Rationalism · Wikipedia: Empiricism · Wikipedia: Critique of Pure Reason

5 · Perpetual Peace and the United Nations

from age 15 · history, politics, philosophy

Aim

The class knows how the essay of 1795 is built (six preliminary and three definitive articles), explains Kant's federation of free states instead of a state of nations (Ak. 8:354) and compares it with the League of Nations (1920) and the United Nations (1945).

Lesson outline

45 minutes

  1. Starter5 min

    Class poll: does the world need a world government for peace to last?

  2. Main activity25 min

    Read about the structure of the essay in the chapter. Worksheet tasks 1 and 2: the three definitive articles and Kant's federation of free states.

  3. Consolidation15 min

    Comparison with the United Nations (task 3): what fits Kant's federation, what does not?

90 minutes

  1. Starter10 min

    As in 45 minutes.

  2. Main activity55 min

    As above, plus the six preliminary articles in groups: each group looks for an example from history that its article speaks against.

  3. Consolidation25 min

    Task 4 as a written statement. Add the criticism of the essay that the chapter names: an unrealistic ideal, or the blueprint of today's order?

Devices from the workshop

Further reading: Peace & Politics

Prompt questions

  • Kant thinks a world state is the idea of reason but does not expect states to want it. Would a world government be better than a federation?
  • Why, according to Kant, should the constitution of every state be republican? What does that have to do with war?
  • For Kant, cosmopolitan right is a right to hospitality. What might that mean for people who come to a foreign country today?
  • Is a peace treaty with a secret reservation for a future war a peace?

Questions of judgment have no right or wrong answer. What counts is a reason and the strongest opposing voice.

Worksheet

Prints only the sheet, one A4 page.
View worksheet

immanuel-kant.info · Worksheet · Plan 5

Perpetual Peace and the United Nations

NameClassDate

To the material

Before you read

What does it take for states to live in peace for good?

“The civil constitution in every state shall be republican.”

Kant, Toward Perpetual Peace (1795), First Definitive Article, Ak. 8:349, own translation

“The right of nations shall be based on a federalism of free states.”

ibid., Second Definitive Article, Ak. 8:354, own translation

“Cosmopolitan right shall be limited to the conditions of universal hospitality.”

ibid., Third Definitive Article, Ak. 8:357, own translation

Task 1

Explain each of the three definitive articles in one sentence.

Task 2

Kant wants a federation of free states, not a state of nations. What is the difference?

Task 3

Compare with the United Nations (founded in 1945): name one similarity with Kant's federation and one difference.

Task 4

Your view: can a federation of free states secure lasting peace? Give reasons and name a counter-argument.

Sources: korpora.org Ak. 8:349 · korpora.org Ak. 8:354 · korpora.org Ak. 8:357 · Wikipedia Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch · Wikipedia League of Nations · Wikipedia United Nations · www.immanuel-kant.info/en/politik

Sources: korpora.org: Ak. 8:349 · korpora.org: Ak. 8:354 · korpora.org: Ak. 8:357 · Wikipedia: Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch · Wikipedia: League of Nations · Wikipedia: United Nations

Projector mode

For the board: larger type, more contrast, less movement. And Kant's answer stays hidden until you reveal it.

  1. 1
    Switch it on

    Use the projector button in the header or press B, on any page. The mode stays on until you switch it off.

  2. 2
    Let the class vote

    Wherever a device asks for your own verdict, a class poll appears instead of the answer. You count the raised hands per option, for example “14 / 5”.

  3. 3
    Reveal

    “Reveal Kant's answer” shows the solution, and the class result stays next to it.

  4. 4
    Share

    “Link to exactly this state” creates an address and a QR code. Whoever scans it opens the device in exactly this state.

Try projector mode here: switch it on with the projector button at the top or the B key, then choose an answer. Without projector mode you see the solution straight away.

What does Kant mean by “enlightenment”?

Sources: korpora.org: Ak. 8:35 · Wikipedia

Quoting with a reference

Every Kant quotation with a reference has a small copy button. It copies the wording, the passage in the Academy edition (for the Critique of Pure Reason, the A and B editions) and the page address with the date of access, so that pupils and students can cite properly. Try it on this quotation:

Enlightenment is the human being's emergence from his self-incurred immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to make use of one's own understanding without the guidance of another.

Kant, An Answer to the Question: What Is Enlightenment? (1784), Ak. 8:35, own translation

Embedding: the tools in your course

Seven tools are available as stand-alone embeds for Moodle, Canvas or your own course page. Copy the code and paste it as HTML.

  • Maxim tester

    Test Kant's four examples or your own rule of action step by step.

    Open in a new tab

  • Dilemma workshop

    Decide first, then see Kant's verdict and the opposing voice.

    Open in a new tab

  • Judgment sorter

    Sort statements into analytic/synthetic and a priori/a posteriori.

    Open in a new tab

  • Knowledge quiz

    Questions on Kant's life and thought, each with an explanation and a source.

    Open in a new tab

  • Kant or not Kant?

    Tell genuine quotations from misattributed ones.

    Open in a new tab

  • Kant's day as a clock

    His documented daily routine from 4:45 to bedtime.

    Open in a new tab

  • Königsberg in 1763

    Places from Kant's life on the city map of 1763.

    Open in a new tab

Choose “Preview” above to try an embed here.

Crosswords to print

The workshop has two crosswords on Kant's concepts in each language, an easy one and a hard one. The “Print” button in the puzzle offers two versions: the puzzle only, or the puzzle with a solution sheet. They are built with crosswordcreator.org, where you can also make your own puzzles for your class.

To the puzzles in the workshop

Source: crosswordcreator.org

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