I need to fact-check something for a book. The author says:
... to paraphrase Kant, “no fruit of the human tree has ever lacked for improvement.”
I can't find anything along these lines online in lists of Kant quotes.
Thanks so much!
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3I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is asking for a quote. An answer to this question will not help in a better understanding of philosophy.– user2953Jun 18, 2015 at 13:40
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I think if he said something like that, having the context around could be illimunitating.– James KingsberyJun 18, 2015 at 14:21
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2It turns out to be a reference question. Most common version = "Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made." (see en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Immanuel_Kant). It's from a relatively minor Kant work though I believe Allen Wood quotes it in Kant's Ethical Thought– virmaiorJun 18, 2015 at 15:13
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Welcome to Phil.SE! I've added a tag for reference-request to help make clear what kind of question this is.– Mozibur UllahJun 18, 2015 at 15:49
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"a good human being surpasses all our concepts, for how can an evil tree produce good fruit" books.google.com/… And I agree with Keelan, reference requests are fine only as long as long as they serve answering a philosophical question.– ConifoldJun 19, 2015 at 2:39
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1 Answer
It turns out to be a reference question.
Most common version = "Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made." (see https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Immanuel_Kant). It's from a relatively minor Kant work though I believe Allen Wood quotes it in Kant's Ethical Thought
There's also some things that reflect this sentiment in Anthropology and Religion within the Bounds of mere Reason, but the exact idea as you word it is not Kantian insofar as Kant thinks every human being has what they need to be moral -- and any inadequacy is incidental rather than endemic.
