Read Kant

[310 words] My graduate philosophy instructor was a newly minted PhD, and he was an expert in Immanuel Kant. A well-informed, thoroughly devoted expert. His seminar on the German philosopher was, of course, excellent. His cardinal rule for our class was simple: Read Kant. Too many instructors present philosophy and philosophers through the writings of other interpreters. They rely on broad historical overviews and topical anthologies — academic texts that cover hundreds of philosophical concepts — to expose students to a wide range of ideas. As valuable as such resources may be, nothing takes the place of reading what the original thinker thought. My instructor once mentioned a paper he had presented at a philosophy conference. I would have to dig up my old notes to recall the specific topic, but I believe it was one of those over-the-top academic treatises that only fellow philosophers (especially the Kantians) would appreciate….