Christmas is the when families celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ by giving presents to one another. Immanuel Kant probably celebrated Christmas because he was Christian and he loved his family. When he was baptized he was given the name Emanuel which he changed to Immanuel. His mother was endeared to him and called him "little Manny" in German. Kant was also very fond of his mother and said he would never forget his mother because she had nourished goodness in him and that had a continual beneficial impact on his life.
Kant's mother may have given rise to sentiments in him but he had to transcend those sentiments in order to develop a moral philosophy that had universal validity for all people. The categorical imperative, he articulated, is universally valid precisely because it is not derived from sentiment. Just consider the first formulation of the categorical imperative: "Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law." You can't universalize a sentiment but you can universalize an ethical maxim and Immanuel Kant is saying that only maxims that can be universalized ought to count as moral. This procedure makes it impossible to act on feelings, rather one must act on reason and act in ways all people could act. Hence we should not act in preference for our family because that preference rests on sentiments and feelings.
Even though Jesus loved his family, he said: "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" in Luke 14:26. He did not mean by this that people should go around hating other people especially members of one's own family since this statement is an exaggeration. But rather what he meant by this is what Kant means by saying we should not base our love on feelings of preference and liking because that liking is based on receiving something back from the other person. Rather our love should be based in the love of God which doesn't show preference for some people over other people but loves all people equally.
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.
This kind of giving at the time of Christmas teaches a child to act on maxims of love for all people and not to just prefer his family based on feelings of preference. The child will still have love for his own family since she is being taught to love all people and love for the sake of loving and giving rather that for the sake of receiving something in return. By this way, the child overcomes the selfish preference she has for herself and learns to love as God does. And in this way we see that Kant and Christmas really have a lot to do with one another.
Kant's mother may have given rise to sentiments in him but he had to transcend those sentiments in order to develop a moral philosophy that had universal validity for all people. The categorical imperative, he articulated, is universally valid precisely because it is not derived from sentiment. Just consider the first formulation of the categorical imperative: "Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law." You can't universalize a sentiment but you can universalize an ethical maxim and Immanuel Kant is saying that only maxims that can be universalized ought to count as moral. This procedure makes it impossible to act on feelings, rather one must act on reason and act in ways all people could act. Hence we should not act in preference for our family because that preference rests on sentiments and feelings.
Even though Jesus loved his family, he said: "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" in Luke 14:26. He did not mean by this that people should go around hating other people especially members of one's own family since this statement is an exaggeration. But rather what he meant by this is what Kant means by saying we should not base our love on feelings of preference and liking because that liking is based on receiving something back from the other person. Rather our love should be based in the love of God which doesn't show preference for some people over other people but loves all people equally.
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.
This kind of giving at the time of Christmas teaches a child to act on maxims of love for all people and not to just prefer his family based on feelings of preference. The child will still have love for his own family since she is being taught to love all people and love for the sake of loving and giving rather that for the sake of receiving something in return. By this way, the child overcomes the selfish preference she has for herself and learns to love as God does. And in this way we see that Kant and Christmas really have a lot to do with one another.
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Looking to find out more about Immanuel Kant, then visit the Kantian School of Critical Thinking to find out more about Kant and Christmas.
