The Power of Five Ideas
Five Timeless Ideas for Personal Resilience and Growth from Immanuel Kant
Welcome to The Art of Becoming.
The Power of Five Ideas Friday edition. Where we learn five ideas that can change our lives.
The Art of Becoming is a newsletter about finding value in adversity and embracing discomfort. Each week, I share how to find fulfillment, a little joy, be more resilient, wiser, and a little better. It starts with you and me embracing discomfort—by doing hard shit.
Today, we learn how five (small) ideas can change our lives
I hope you join me.
At a glance:
Five principle ideas from one of the world’s greatest philosophers—Immanuel Kant.
Dare to think for yourself. Question everything, especially those in authority.
Act with autonomy. Live authentically and do the right thing.
Universal respect and ethical living. Treat others as an end to themselves, not as an end to your means. Treat people right.
Duty and Freedom. Understand that discipline is freedom. What is your duty to yourself and others? Do they have to be mutually exclusive?
Faith and knowledge. Understanding reality is a dance between faith and certainty. It is more than a mere snapshot taken by our senses.
Immanuel Kant, an 18th-century philosopher, spent his life in the confines of Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). He never left his hometown, even to travel to the sea, which is some 70 miles away.
Though he was a homebody, his ideas traveled the globe, reshaping our understanding of knowledge, morality, and beauty.
Renowned for his routines—neighbors could set their clocks by his daily walks—Kant was a creature of habit, but his thoughts were far from predictable. Through his revolutionary 'Critique' trilogy, he asserted that our experiences and inherent faculties influence our perception of the world.
He championed autonomy, arguing that our actions hold moral value only when driven by duty, and advocated for a universal ethical approach that upholds the dignity of every individual.
Kant's unwavering commitment to reason, belief in the moral necessity of treating others as ends in themselves, and disciplined pursuit of intellectual rigor made him a philosophical legend.
Let's see what an 18th-century homebody turned rockstar philosopher can teach us.
Dare to Know or think (Sapere Aude)
"Enlightenment is man's release from his self-incurred tutelage. Tutelage is man's inability to make use of his understanding without direction from another. Sapere Aude! Have the courage to use your own understanding! Is thus the motto of enlightenment." –From What is Enlightenment?
This is Kant's or Philosophy's rallying cry: "Dare to know!" Dare to think for yourself.
It encourages you to embrace your intellectual curiosity and autonomy.
Question conventional wisdom, question everything you read on social media, question politicians and business leaders who tell you they know how to fix everything (i.e., Donald Trump and Elon Musk), and question me and everyone like me. Seek knowledge independently.
We are drowning in information and have abdicated the responsibility to think for ourselves.
Developing critical thinking skills and trusting your capacity to learn and understand complex issues is essential to becoming a functional and rational human being. It is the bare minimum required to create meaning and autonomy in life.
Be an enlightened rebel. Seek knowledge beyond headlines. Engage in civil discourse. Reject echo chambers.
Resilience flourishes when you navigate life's storms with critical thinking and unwavering curiosity.
Dare to know. Dare to think for yourself. Dare to fight misinformation and manipulation.
Act with Autonomy
"Autonomy is therefore the ground of the dignity of humans and of every rational nature." –From the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals.
Kant emphasized the importance of acting according to principles we have reasoned out for ourselves rather than following external authorities or our whims.
This idea of autonomy invites you to reflect deeply on your values and ensure your actions align with them.
This means living authentically and making choices that resonate with your true self.
Do the right thing not because it is convenient but because it is morally right. Moral law does not come from outside a person but from their ethics and values.
Universal Respect and Ethical Living
"Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end." –From the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
Kant's principle wants you to treat others as an end to themselves, not merely as a means to your ends.
Applying this to your life means fostering empathy and understanding. Treat others with others that acknowledge their inherent dignity.
The abolition of slavery in the British Empire at the beginning of the 19th century embodies Kant's imperative to treat humanity as an end to themselves and not merely as a means to an end. Selling human beings as a means of profit violated Kant's principle.
According to Kant's principle, everyone possesses an inherent dignity and grace that must be respected, and the humanity of all persons must be considered.
Duty and Freedom: The Paradox of Choice
"Act as if the maxim of your action were to become through your will a universal law of nature." — Immanuel Kant, Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals.
Freedom isn't about doing whatever you please.
True freedom lies in fulfilling your duty—acting according to reason and moral law. Surprisingly, these constraints we put on ourselves—self-discipline—liberate us.
Or, as Jocko Willink said:
DISCIPLINE IS FREEDOM.
And it starts by simplifying your life. Know the difference between what you must do and what you want to do. Many times, they’re not the same thing.
In the thousand choices you can make every day, know your duty. Know what you must get done. Be disciplined.
This discipline extends beyond the four walls of your home. Kant believes duty fuels resilience and transforms lives.
What should you do, not just for yourself but for humanity?
Faith and Knowledge: The Dance between Certainty and Belief
"I had to deny knowledge in order to make room for faith." — Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason.
Kant lived when religious dogma defined what one knew and was allowed to believe. Then, the Enlightenment came, and science began questioning the foundation of faith and knowledge.
Our perception of reality isn't a mirror reflecting objective truth. Reality isn't what the Church said or what a King told you to believe. Instead, it's a mental construct shaped by our senses and cognition.
He argued that knowledge isn't a mere snapshot of reality. It's a dynamic dance between faith and reason.
How do you dance between the certainty of knowledge and the confidence of faith?
Embrace uncertainty. Acknowledge that you understand the world through sensory input, intuition, and reason. But accept that you will never know everything, and that's where faith comes in.
When faced with ambiguity, be curious. Trust your inner compass, but remain open to new perspectives.
In the fields of faith and knowledge, resilience blooms. Don't be afraid of either.
Kant's ideas are life rafts in a tsunami of uncertainty and authority.
The way to survive is to embrace uncertainty, uphold principles, marvel at the sublime, honor duty, and dare to think.
In doing so, you'll do more than survive. You'll thrive—the Kantian way.
Thanks for reading. This week, embrace uncertainty and redefine the limits of your belief.
Love to you and yours,
Michael