The philosophies of Thomas Aquinas and Immanuel Kant Essay

The philosophies of Thomas Aquinas and Immanuel Kant - Essay Example Being a mainstream rationalist of his time, Immanuel Kant also endorsed this view to a very significant extent. They believed that not only did all knowledge come from the senses, but that knowledge is ultimately gained from reasoning about the senses of one's experiences. From here there emerges another similar conception; their view of ethics itself. For Aquinas as well as for Kant ethics are derived from practical reasoning. This notion further allows them to conceptualize and distinct good deeds from bad and thus pave way for another similarity that founds the very basis of how they perceive justice and law. In this instance, they agree that laws can be derived from practical reasoning and because of this possible, this rationale can help determine the right from the wrong or vice versa. This means that, by design, we are all obligated to follow the law of morale. This also implies the significance of justice in perceiving the moral obligations of humanity.For Aquinas, all prior stems from God and is thus external from humans. Kant, on the other hand, describes his belief that prior in its entirety is inspired from within one's self. Since Kant believes prior comes from within us, he also contemplates this to be the sole source of our insight to the world. That is to imply that the understanding of the world comes from within us and, therefore, our minds wrap the world around itself and changes our experiences to match what our minds expect to see. Unlike Kant however, Aquinas's thoughts on this idea are quite the opposite.