Immanuel Kant

Immanuel Kant is one of the most influential figures in the history of Western philosophy. His Critique of Pure Reason attempted to resolve the dispute between rationalists and empiricists by arguing that the mind actively structures experience through innate categories of understanding.

His moral philosophy, centred on the categorical imperative, holds that actions are right or wrong based on the principles behind them, not their consequences. Kant insisted that rational beings are ends in themselves — never to be used merely as means.