Christmas is a time when family come together and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. I know of no evidence in Immanuel Kant's writings that he celebrated Christmas with his family, but we do have lots of evidence that he loved his family. At his baptism as an infant he was given the name Emanuel, which he later changed to Immanuel (which Christians know means "God with us."). His mother gave him a term of endearment and called him "Manelchen" which means 'little Manny.' He was also endeared to hi smother and later in life said: "I will never forget my mother, for she implanted and nurtured in me the first germ of goodness; she opened my heart to the impressions of nature; she awakened and furthered my concepts, and her doctrines have had a continual and beneficial influence in my life."
Kant's feelings for his mother were based on sentiments that probably influenced him to develop his moral philosophy but he had to develop beyond sentiment to found a philosophy that was universally valid for all people. He articulate a categorical imperative that was universally valid but was not based on feelings. The first formulation of the categorical imperative says: "Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law." It is impossible to make a feeling universal but you can make a moral maxim universal and Kant believes that it is only when it is universal that it is morally valid. When you make your maxims universal it is impossible to act on feelings since these are not universal.
Jesus too loved his mother and yet also said this: "If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, bothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26). This statement by Jesus makes Christians uncomfortable for good reason. Jesus teaches that the greatest of all commandments is to love God and then to love your neighbor as yourself and yet here he is saying the Christian must hate his family and himself. Is it possible however that Jesus was saying that in order to be moral we have to give up and hate our sentiments and feelings of preference for ourselves and members of our family? He goes on to say: "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." Is giving up our love and preference for our families the cross we must carry?
The spirit of Christmas is to give gifts to those who cannot give gifts back and so often we give gifts to our own children, but the real spirit of Christmas is to give gifts to those who really cannot give us anything in return. So it is a real expression of the spirit of Christmas to give food and gifts to people who are homeless and hungry and have nothing to give in return. This shows the kind of love God has for people and is not based on feelings of preference since God has no preferences for people but sends rain on evil and good people alike.
In such a family where thought is given to people who have needs that are not met, one could grow up with the maxim that it is good to help others and that maxim would help the children overcome their selfishness. The love for one's family then would not be based on the sentiment of feeling good because one gets something from the family but because they inspire in him to love others and even strangers. Is that not the Christmas message? Maybe Kant has more to do with Christmas than we originally thought.
Kant's feelings for his mother were based on sentiments that probably influenced him to develop his moral philosophy but he had to develop beyond sentiment to found a philosophy that was universally valid for all people. He articulate a categorical imperative that was universally valid but was not based on feelings. The first formulation of the categorical imperative says: "Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law." It is impossible to make a feeling universal but you can make a moral maxim universal and Kant believes that it is only when it is universal that it is morally valid. When you make your maxims universal it is impossible to act on feelings since these are not universal.
Jesus too loved his mother and yet also said this: "If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, bothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26). This statement by Jesus makes Christians uncomfortable for good reason. Jesus teaches that the greatest of all commandments is to love God and then to love your neighbor as yourself and yet here he is saying the Christian must hate his family and himself. Is it possible however that Jesus was saying that in order to be moral we have to give up and hate our sentiments and feelings of preference for ourselves and members of our family? He goes on to say: "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." Is giving up our love and preference for our families the cross we must carry?
The spirit of Christmas is to give gifts to those who cannot give gifts back and so often we give gifts to our own children, but the real spirit of Christmas is to give gifts to those who really cannot give us anything in return. So it is a real expression of the spirit of Christmas to give food and gifts to people who are homeless and hungry and have nothing to give in return. This shows the kind of love God has for people and is not based on feelings of preference since God has no preferences for people but sends rain on evil and good people alike.
In such a family where thought is given to people who have needs that are not met, one could grow up with the maxim that it is good to help others and that maxim would help the children overcome their selfishness. The love for one's family then would not be based on the sentiment of feeling good because one gets something from the family but because they inspire in him to love others and even strangers. Is that not the Christmas message? Maybe Kant has more to do with Christmas than we originally thought.
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Want to find out more about Immanuel Kant #1, then visit Holly L Wilson's site Kantian School of Critical Thinking and learn more about Immanuel Kant and Christmas #2.
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