"Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) published The Universal Natural History and Theory of Heaven in 1755. This English text is based on Georg Reimer's edition of the complete works of Immanuel Kant (1905). The translation was first completed and posted on the web in 1998. It has been considerably revised for this September 2008 version, mainly to improve the accuracy and fluency of the translation." -- Translator's note

Brings together work by Kant never before available in English, along with new translations of his most important publications in natural science. The volume is rich in material for the student and the scholar, with extensive linguistic and explanatory notes, editorial introductions and a glossary of key terms.

Traces the development of Kant's views on free will from earlier writings through the three Critiques and beyond.

The papers in this volume are offered in celebration of the 200th anni versary of the pub 1 i cat i on of Inmanue 1 Kant's The MetaphysicaL Foundations of NatupaL Science. All of the es says (including the Introduction) save two were written espe ci ally for thi s volume. Gernot Bohme' s paper is an amended and enlarged version of one originally read in the series of lectures and colloquia in philosophy of science offered by Boston University. My own paper is a revised and enlarged version (with an appendix containing completely new material) of one read at the biennial meeting of the Philosophy of Sci ence Association held in Chicago in 1984. Why is it important to devote this attention to Kant's last published work in the philosophy of physics? The excellent essays in the volume will answer the question. I will provide some schematic com ments designed to provide an image leading from the general question to its very specific answers. Kant is best known for hi s monumental Croitique of Pure Reason and for his writings in ethical theory. His "critical" philosophy requires an initial sharp division of knowledge into its theoretical and practical parts. Moral perfection of attempts to act out of duty is the aim of practical reason. The aim of theoretical reason is to know the truth about ma terial and spiritual nature.

Today, we accept that we live on a planet circling the sun, that our sun is just one of billions of stars in the galaxy we call the Milky Way, and that our galaxy is but one of billions born out of the big bang. Yet as recently as the early twentieth century, the general public and even astronomers had vague and confused notions about what lay beyo

A new 2022 translation of 1755 Allgemeine Naturgeschichte und Theorie des Himmels in modern English with the original German in the back. Immanuel Kant's Universal Natural History and Theory of Heaven is one of his first Philosophic works and puts on full display his impressive intellect. Even though he was not a scientist, Kant's Cosmogonic theories are strikingly accurate when compared to the theories of his peers. Here he postulates the Nebular Hypothesis on the formation and evolution of planetary systems, which is today the broadly accepted theory of planet formation. He was also correct in his assumption, which was unsubstantiated by observation at the time, that our Milky Way galaxy was only one of countless, which was only confirmed by the Hubble Telescope in the 1920’s. His theories about Exoplanets were likewise only recently confirmed by the Kepler missions. This is the epicenter of the chaos of the Enlightenment, and Kant’s theories are surprisingly rational and accurate. His philosophic commentaries here are a foreshadowing of his later monumental works of Enlightenment Epistemology.

Many scientists have come to realize that science and religion can nurture each other. One example was the flowering of science in the first centuries of Islam. For Dr. Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad, a Muslim and an astronomer, studying the universe is an expression of faith. Scientists and non-scientists should appreciate the insights in this passionate and lucid book. Dr. Ahmad's book has been widely acclaimed for its insights into the Islamic approach to science and the spiritual foundations of Western scientists such as Galileo, Newton and Einstein. A Palestinian trained at Harvard, he offers a unique perspective of the role of religion in science.