Immanuel Kant’s Metaphysics Essay - 3676 Words

Immanuel Kant’s Metaphysics THEME In regard to Metaphysics, Kant’s results were seemingly the opposite to what he strove to achieve, cf. the claim, in his Introduction, that â€Å"In this enquiry . . . I venture to assert that there is not a single metaphysical problem which has not been solved, or for the solution of which the key has not been supplied.† In the summing up of his Prolegomena, he records with evident pride in achievement: â€Å"Anyone who has read through and grasped the principles of the CPR . . . will look forward with delight to metaphysics, which is now indeed in his power.† Yet the image of an â€Å"Alleszermalmer† persists, who dismantled the foundations of a philosophical edifice which had barely withstood the†¦show more content†¦Let me therefore begin at the beginning with a well-articulated statement of principle: If one and the same faculty of reason is employed in empirical and metaphysical judgement, and the empirical employment of reason is legitimate, then so should be its metaphysical employment; and if metaphysics results in contradictions, then reason as a whole contradicts itself . . . Because the problem of metaphysics is ultimately a matter of reason’s relation to itself, the route to its solution, Kant argues, must also be reflexive. That is, reason must examine itself. [Gardner 21-2]. This identifies the claim by Kant to have wrought a ‘copernican revolution’ in philosophy. The whole perspective is rotated by 180Ã… ¡: not the world imposing its meaning, but meaning imposing on the world. II Knowledge and intuition Kant’s first step, furnishing arguments in favour of the apriority of metaphysical cognition, is evidently mandatory. He shows initially that there is no inferring from veridical observations upon â€Å"the riddle of the universe†, while conclusions about what is are not necessarily divulged by causal entanglements between empirical phenomena. Kant in fact claims that the character of metaphysical knowledge is intrinsically a priori and synthetic along with mathematics, geometry and natural science. [B14-18]. In all these disciplines, recourse must be had to concepts. Kant points out that thinking is possibleShow MoreRelatedImmanuel Kants Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals952 Words   |  4 PagesImmanuel Kant’s Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals serves the purpose of founding moral theory from moral judgment and examining whether there is such thing as a ‘moral law’ that is absolute and universal. In chapter three of his work, he discusses the relationship between free will and the moral law and claims â€Å"A free will and a will under moral laws are one and the same.† He stands firm in his belief that moral law is what guides a will that is free from empirical desires. 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