Immanuel Kant and Christmas

By Holly L Wilson

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.

For Immanuel Kant, it was not the feelings he had for his mother that gave rise to his moral philosophy even though those sentiments had a powerful effect upon him. He developed a categorical imperative that had universal validity because it wasn’t based on feelings. The first formulation of the categorical imperative says: “Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law.” Feelings cannot be universalized, but maxims can. And Kant believed that it was necessary to see if one can will that all people act on one’s maxim before one considered that maxim moral. You cannot do such a procedure with personal feelings.

Jesus seems to be saying the same thing when he says “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” in Luke 14:26. Although some Christians don’t like the idea of hating members of their own family, Jesus is not saying that they should really hate them. That would be against the commandment that they love their neighbor as themselves. Nor is Jesus saying you should really hate yourself. But he is using hyperbole to emphasize that when we love our family we are loving them from our feelings of preference we have for them rather than loving them as we would love anyone. Jesus says we have to carry our own cross in order to be his disciple and that means that we have to sacrifice our feelings of preference for our families and learn to love all people equally.

When we look to Christmas we see that it is the spirit of Christmas to give to those who have nothing and who cannot give back to us. Our families always give back to us. But I know of a family who packs up Christmas presents with their children, makes a home cooked meal, and then on Christmas morning brings it to homeless people because they feel called by Jesus Christ to do so.

In such a family where thought is given to people who have needs that are not met, one could grow up with the maxim that it is good to help others and that maxim would help the children overcome their selfishness. The love for one’s family then would not be based on the sentiment of feeling good because one gets something from the family but because they inspire in him to love others and even strangers. Is that not the Christmas message? Maybe Kant has more to do with Christmas than we originally thought.

Learn more about Immanuel Kant #1. Stop by Holly L Wilson’s blogsite Kantian School of Critical Thinking where you can find out all about Immanuel Kant and Christmas #2.

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Topics: Christmas | Comments Off

Tags: Christianity, Christmas, Critical Thinking, Immanuel Kant, Jesus Christ, Philosophy, Religion

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