Kant : a very short introduction (original 1982; edition 2001)

Good intro but you have to concentrate. It's demanding.

I like his concept of Enlightenment( to quote from http://www.columbia.edu/acis/ets/CCREAD/etscc/kant.html ) "Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed nonage. Nonage is the inability to use one's own understanding without another's guidance. This nonage is self-imposed if its cause lies not in lack of understanding but in indecision and lack of courage to use one's own mind without another's guidance.

"Laziness and cowardice are the reasons why such a large part of mankind gladly remain minors all their lives, long after nature has freed them from external guidance. It is so comfortable to be a minor. If I have a book that thinks for me, a pastor who acts as my conscience, a physician who prescribes my diet, and so on--then I have no need to exert myself. I have no need to think, if only I can pay; others will take care of that disagreeable business for me. Basically, put your big boy pants on and think like an adult."

I also like his idea of cosmopolitanism.

Otherwise I think Kant is messed up. But, he was a pre-Darwinian thinker and did the best he could. Unfortunately, a lot of modern day thinkers think like pre-Darwinian thinkers. ( )

Subway reading size - covers many of the basics ( )