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1 results

  • 4 - Universal natural history and theory of the heavens or essay on the constitution and the mechanical origin of the whole universe according to Newtonian principles (1755)

  • Immanuel Kant
  • Edited by Eric Watkins, University of California, San Diego
  • Book:
    Kant: Natural Science
    Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    04 October 2012, pp 182-308

  • Summary

    Kant's aim in the essay Universal Natural History and Theory of the Heavens shows that the main elements of the entire observable universe, laying bare the basic structure that governs the universe. Kant does this in a preparatory section and three parts. In the preface, he is primarily interested in explaining why the view he wants to defend not only represents no threat to religious orthodoxy. In the first part, Kant draws an analogy between the structure of our solar system and that of the Milky Way and then between the Milky Way and the fixed stars. The second part explains the formation of the various significant bodies in our solar system their most distinctive features. In the third part, Kant concludes his treatment by engaging in fanciful speculation about the inhabitants of the other planets of our solar system, and returns to the theological context.