[58] This conclusion is also to be expected because, inconsistently with his real view, Kant is here (B. 41-2, M. 25-6) under the influence of the presupposition of our ordinary consciousness that in perception we are confronted by things in themselves, known to be spatial, and not by appearances produced by unknown things in themselves. Cf. (B. 41, M. 25) "and thereby of obtaining immediate representation of them [i. e. objects];" and (B. 42, M. 26) "the receptivity of the subject to be affected by objects necessarily precedes all perceptions of these objects." These sentences identify things in themselves and bodies in space, and thereby imply that in empirical perception we perceive things in themselves and as they _are_. On the other hand, if we consider Kant's conclusion from the point of view, not of the problem which originates it, but of the distinction in terms of which he states it, viz. that between things as they are in themselves and things as perceived by us, we are led to expect the contrary result. Since perception is the being affected by things, and since the nature of the affection depends upon the nature of our capacity of being affected, in _all_ perception the object will become distorted or transformed, as it were, by our capacity of being affected. The conclusion, therefore, should be that in all judgements, empirical as well as _a priori_, we apprehend things only as perceived. The reason why Kant does not draw this conclusion is probably that given above, viz. that by the time Kant reaches the solution of his problem empirical knowledge has come to relate to sensation only; consequently, it has ceased to occur to him that empirical judgements could possibly give us knowledge of things as they are. Nevertheless, Kant should not have retained in his formulation of the problem a distinction irreconcilable with his solution of it; and if he had realized that he was doing so he might have been compelled to modify his whole view.