[kant; Ger. kahnt] 
Im⋅man⋅u⋅el [i-man-yoo-uh l; Ger. i-mah-noo-el] , 1724–1804, German philosopher. |
| Kant (kānt, känt) German philosopher whose synthesis of rationalism and empiricism, in which he argued that reason is the means by which the phenomena of experience are translated into understanding, marks the beginning of idealism. His classic works include Critique of Pure Reason (1781) and Critique of Practical Reason (1788), in which he put forward a system of ethics based on the categorical imperative. Kant'i·an adj. & n. |