Directions For Writing An Essay On Opus Postumum


Over the centuries, there have been people like Nietzsche, Rasputin, Kant and others who enlightened the world with their philosophies. Interestingly, they were hardly a peace with themselves, always seeking new ways to un-complicate the mind.


The masterstroke

Kant, in his later years, lent a masterstroke in his genre – Opus Postumum. This was brilliantly translated by Eckart Forster. When asked to write an essay on this work, you should go clinically through Forester’s work to get a firm footing.


  • Opus Postumum is nothing but an assimilation of different philosophies that overlap each other. Kant was sure that these philosophies and their abiding problems could be solved with clarity of thought and single-minded attention to the core.

  • You need to write how he started on a false note; mentioning a common problem that agues us and grew it into an enormous creature. It is almost like Alice in Wonderland; the logic of a small hole leading to a wide world.

  • He soon understood that he has the keys to the pertinent philosophies in the world. His bone of contention was idealism and he loved merging theories with practice. He also pontificated a lot on the fate of lesser species and the logics of God in running this world.

  • Kant had an objective mind and he loved scheming practical answers to theoretical philosophies so the strains could be utilized in actual life. He wondered how our common lives are so influenced by space, time; nature and the existent dynamism between the abstract entities.

  • Kant believed in God and yet questioned His ideals. He was not sure whether everything that survived should survive and everything that dies should die. In this premise, he charted a very thin and complicated line; something which kept harrowing him as he introspected and expressed. Your essay should bring out this dichotomy; this dilemma.

  • You will be impressed by the precision and convivial way in which Forster translates it; almost exalting it to another level. This is admirable, considering the original philosophy is of one of the greatest thinkers of all times who still has his followers – Kant.

Picking traits

You may pick any trait or attribute from his philosophies and tweak out a pertinent way-through based on Kant’s thought processes. It is amazing how the work is still quite relevant. Keep the writing style simple; because the innards are quite cumbersome. Let the readers revel in the abiding emotions.