The Educational Philosophy of Kant and Iqbal: A Comparative Study

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to compare the educational philosophies of two great philosophers namely, Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) a German philosopher of the 18th century, and Allama Iqbal (1877-1938) 20th-century philosopher from the Indo-Pak subcontinent. Both came from two different periods with their respective social, cultural and educational background but occupy a unique place in their respective areas of influence in the modern, western, and eastern philosophical worlds. Kant’s worldview and educational thought are based on the ideas of rationalists and empiricists. While Iqbal’s educational ideas are based on idealism and spiritualism. Kant’s philosophy is known as critical philosophy and is blended with experience and reason. While Iqbal’s philosophy is based on the concept of self and is blended with oriental, western, and spiritual values. Both worked for the progress of humanity and considered education as the main weapon for the upliftment of the nation. They insisted that education should be imparted according to the needs of society. Kant believed that human beings are unique existence and need moral education but held the view that religion as a theology should not be taught to young people while on the other hand Iqbal also stresses moral education along with religious education. Hence through this paper, an attempt has been made to explore and analyze the educational philosophies of Kant and Iqbal and find out how much there are similarities and differences between them. The nature of the present research is qualitative and the researcher has analyzed both primary and secondary sources related to the theme through the approach of content analysis. Keywords: Transcendental, Rationalists, Art, Ego, creativity, moral duty, self-realization.