Causation; Knowledge, Theory of; Philosophy, German; Reason
within, ourselves, cannot remain concealed, and in all probability is
limited enough to be completely surveyed and fairly estimated,
according to its worth or worthlessness. Still less let the reader here
expect a critique of books and systems of pure reason; our present
object is exclusively a critique of the faculty of pure reason itself.
Only when we make this critique our foundation, do we possess a pure
touchstone for estimating the philosophical value of ancient and modern
writings on this subject; and without this criterion, the incompetent
historian or judge decides upon and corrects the groundless assertions
of others with his own, which have themselves just as little
foundation.
Transcendental philosophy is the idea of a science, for which the
Critique of Pure Reason must sketch the whole plan architectonically,
that is, from principles, with a full guarantee for the validity and
stability of all the parts which enter into the building. It is the
system of all the principles of pure reason. If this Critique itself
does not assume the title of transcendental philosophy, it is only
because, to be a complete system, it ought to contain a full analysis
of all human knowledge à priori. Our critique must, indeed, lay before
us a complete enumeration of all the radical conceptions which
constitute the said pure knowledge. But from the complete analysis of
these conceptions themselves, as also from a complete investigation of
those derived from them, it abstains with reason; partly because it
would be deviating from the end in view to occupy itself with this
analysis, since this process is not attended with the difficulty and
insecurity to be found in the synthesis, to which our critique is
entirely devoted, and partly because it would be inconsistent with the
unity of our plan to burden this essay with the vindication of the
completeness of such an analysis and deduction, with which, after all,
we have at present nothing to do. This completeness of the analysis of
these radical conceptions, as well as of the deduction from the
conceptions à priori which may be given by the analysis, we can,
however, easily attain, provided only that we are in possession of all
these radical conceptions, which are to serve as principles of the
synthesis, and that in respect of this main purpose nothing is wanting.
To the Critique of Pure Reason, therefore, belongs all that constitutes
transcendental philosophy; and it is the complete idea of
transcendental philosophy, but still not the science itself; because it
only proceeds so far with the analysis as is necessary to the power of
judging completely of our synthetical knowledge à priori.
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