Moral relativism
War theory from Kaliningrad: Kant is to blame
February 12, 2024, 6:58 p.m
The city of Kaliningrad has been struggling with its most famous son since it became part of Russia. Now he is presenting to the governor a deliberately provocative thesis. A direct line can be drawn from the philosopher Kant to the war in Ukraine. He laid the foundation for every act and every injustice to be justified in the West.
The governor of the Russian Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad, Anton Alikhanov, has identified an unexpected accomplice in the war in Ukraine: the important German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). According to local reports, Alikhanov made the remarks at a conference of Russian political scientists about the greatest son of the former German city of Königsberg, which was renamed Kaliningrad after World War II.
The philosopher of the Enlightenment (main work: “Critique of Pure Reason”) was “one of the intellectual creators of the modern West,” said the governor. Alikhanov called his words a “certain provocation,” but said, according to the transcript: “I want to show that Immanuel Kant, who was born here almost 300 years ago, has an almost direct connection to the global chaos (…) that we are dealing with “More than that, he has a direct connection to the military conflict in Ukraine.”
According to the 37-year-old finance and law expert, Kant paved the way for the moral relativism that can supposedly be used to justify every act and every injustice in the West. This is in contrast to Russia, which adheres to eternal ethical values.
Kant’s hometown of Königsberg in East Prussia fell to the Soviet Union at the end of World War II in 1945. The Russian relationship to the philosopher is divided: on the one hand, his grave is cared for at the cathedral, Kant is considered a tourist attraction; on the other hand, the grave and a monument were defaced a few years ago. Moscow began a war of aggression against Ukraine almost two years ago. But it presents itself as a victim of the Western world, which is allegedly waging a proxy war against Russia in Ukraine.