ABSTRACT
Immanuel Kant was one of the greatest and most influential philosophers of all time. The range of his publications was exceptionally wide, but if pressed about the nature of his major contributions most philosophers would point to his theory of knowledge and his ethics. Few philosophers since Kant have approximated his genius, but many of his shortcomings are widely shared even, and to some extent at least this is due to his phenomenal influence. Like Martin Luther, Kant modified the traditional religious picture of the world and created a new world view that was adapted to the needs of modern man and had immense appeal. Kant saved human knowledge, including modern science, while at the same time leaving room for God, immortality, and freedom. The religion Kant tried to reconcile with science was, to cite the title of his book on religion, "religion within the bounds of mere reason alone"—a religion that was cleansed of everything that contradicted reason.
