Kantian Journal

2016 Issue №3(57)

Systematicity of the Critique of Pure Reason and Kant’s system (IV)

Abstract

This article concludes the analysis of systematicity of the Critique of Pure Reason — the work that underlies the entire system created by the great Königsberg philosopher. The author considers the role of transcendental dialectic (it accounts for more than half of the book) in Kant’s methodology of science and the system of criticism. In the context of traditional epistemological theories, it was an entirely new instalment supplementing these theories and understanding knowledge as a continuous process undergoing scientific revolutions. Constructing synthetic a priori judgements requires leaving the extant knowledge for the realm of possible experience, where reason is faced with antinomies. The author provides a critical examination of Karl Jaspers’ ideas about the cognising abilities of transcendental dialectical reason. It is stressed that transcendental dialectic ensures the system integrity of Kant’s philosophy, making it possible to construct a transcendental philosophy going beyond both vulgar mechanistic empiricism and transcendental dogmatism.

Download the article