Immanuel Kant's Influence On Western Civilization

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Immanuel Kant, one of the greatest philosophers in the history of Western Civilization, was also an opponent of perpetual war. Kant’s thinking was probably influenced by the fact that his family were Pietists, a Lutheran sect similar to Quakers. The Seven Years War was probably the first “world war”, pitting Britain, Prussia, Portugal, and smaller German states against France, Austria, Russia, Sweden, Saxony, and Spain, with fighting raging in Europe, North America, and India. A modern aspect characterized this war; it began as pre-emptive defense, when Prussia attacked Saxony based on suspicion that Austria and Russia were planning to attack Prussia. Another new characteristic of this war was that the small German states were proxies for the

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