Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals

Kant was born in 1724 into a family of artisans of modest means. The family belonged to the Protestant sect of the Pietists, and Kant went to a Pietist school. The emphasis on reason in Kant’s philosophy is sometimes interpreted as a reaction against his religious education. Biographers also stress that his parents might have influenced him less through their Pietism but through their high esteem for artisanal values, such as hard work, honesty and independence.