A Commentary to Kant's 'Critique of Pure Reason'Smith, Norman Kemp
Philosophy
A Commentary to Kant's 'Critique of Pure Reason'
Smith, Norman Kemp
Kant, Immanuel, 1724-1804. Kritik der reinen Vernunft
3. =System= is the complete application of such an _Organon_.
This classification is, as Paulsen[311] was the first to remark, an
adaptation of the _Dissertation_ standpoint.
II. The second account begins: “I entitle all knowledge transcendental,”
but is broken by the third account--from “Such a _Critique_” to the end
of the paragraph--which has been inserted into the middle of it. It is
then continued in the next section. It distinguishes:
1. =Critique= of pure reason.
2. =Transcendental philosophy.=
1. =Critique= contains the principles of all _a priori synthetical_
knowledge, tracing an architectonic plan which guarantees the
completeness and certainty of all the parts.
2. =Transcendental philosophy= contains their complete analytic
development, and is therefore the system of such knowledge.
III. The third account (“Such a _Critique_” to end of paragraph) in its
main divisions follows the first account: 1. _Critique_, 2. _Organon_ or
_Canon_, 3. _System_. But they are now defined in a different manner.
_Critique_ is a propaedeutic for the _Organon_. But _Organon_, which
signifies the totality of the principles through which pure knowledge is
attained and extended,[312] may not be possible. In that case the
_Critique_ is a preparation only for a _Canon_, _i.e._ the totality of
the principles of the _proper_ employment of reason.[313] The _Organon_
or _Canon_, in turn, will render possible a _System_ of the philosophy
of pure reason, the former yielding a system in extension of _a priori_
knowledge, the latter a system which defines the limits of _a priori_
knowledge.
It is impossible to reduce these divergencies to a single consistent
view. They illustrate the varying sense in which Kant uses the term
“metaphysics.” In the first account, even though that account is based
on a distinction drawn in the _Dissertation_, the _system_ of
metaphysics is immanent; in the second it is also transcendent; in the
third it is neutral.[314]
=Propaedeutic.=[315]--That the _Critique_ is only propaedeutic to a
_System_ of pure reason was later denied by Kant in the following
emphatic terms:
“I must here observe that I cannot understand the attempt to
ascribe to me the view that I have sought to supply only a
Propaedeutic to transcendental philosophy, not the System of this
philosophy. Such a view could never have entered my thoughts, for I
have myself praised the systematic completeness (_das vollendete
Ganze_) of the pure philosophy in the _Critique of Pure Reason_ as
the best mark of its truth.”[316]
Kant thus finally, after much vacillation in his use of the terms, came
to the conclusion that _Critique_, _Transcendental Philosophy_, and
_System_ all coincide. Meantime he has forgotten his own previous and
conflicting utterances on this point.
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