Welfare.

von Stägemann, Immanuel Kant (detail), 1790

Kant dares us to know ...

So what does Kant want to do in his philosophising? Kant himself declares: “it is metaphysics which it is my fate to be in love with” because on it rests “the true and enduring welfare of humanity.” Therefore we cannot be indifferent to it. There are three respects in which metaphysics is important to Kant: Is there something in human beings that transcends their contingent existence? Is the world a realm of pure causality, or is there the possibility of uncaused acts? Is there anything on which the world is ultimately based? These considerations lead Kant to ask the questions which he believes metaphysics cannot avoid: the questions of immortality, freedom and God. It is no secret that these questions are difficult to answer, and Kant acknowledges that there has been much “tapping in the dark” by philosophers who have tried to find answers. Therefore, we cannot simply begin by straightforwardly answering these questions, but there is a lot of philosophical preparation that has to be carefully worked out beforehand: Why is metaphysics so elusive, what makes it so?