Digesting Duck the philosopher Immanuel Kant
0In point of fact, if a man's actions as belonging to his modifications in time were not merely modifications of him as appearance, but as a thing in itself, freedom could not be saved. Man would be a marionette or an automaton, like Vaucanson's, prepared and wound up by the Supreme Artist.
In the mid-18th century, the French inventor Jacques de Vaucanson created a mechanical marvel known as the "Digesting Duck." This automaton drank water, flapped its wings, pecked at food, and behaved astonishingly like a real duck. People were captivated by its lifelike movements, yet beneath the surface were mere gears and springs—a purely mechanical construction.
Around the same time in Königsberg, Germany, the philosopher Immanuel Kant led his famously disciplined life, deeply pondering human freedom and reason. In his 1790 work, Critique of Practical Reason, Kant discussed precisely this mechanical duck, warning that if humans were merely automatons like Vaucanson’s creation, entirely controlled by external forces, human freedom would be nothing but an illusion. He argued passionately that humans differ fundamentally from clockwork machines because they possess the ability to reason, judge morally, and act autonomously.
This anecdote emphasizes an essential philosophical point: no matter how precisely a machine imitates life externally, it lacks the internal spontaneity—the act of truly "believing"—which characterizes genuine human existence. Kant’s reflections remain profoundly relevant today in the era of AI and intelligent machines. Even as we witness machines making decisions, we find it difficult to attribute to them the subjective, internal act of belief. True belief originates from within, accompanied by responsibility for our own decisions. Machines can decide but cannot genuinely "believe."
The freedom Kant spoke of is humanity’s singular distinction. We are not predetermined beings, mechanically performing actions like Vaucanson’s duck. Instead, we become authentically human precisely by engaging in acts of genuine belief and freedom. Hallelujah!