Critique of Pure Reason

The Critique of Pure Reason (Kritik der reinen Vernunft) is a philosophical text by Immanuel Kant on epistemology and metaphysics. Published in two editions (first in 1781 and second in 1787), this book was the first of the three critiques that together present the core of Kantian philosophy. Kant's stated purpose in the Critique of Pure Reason (CPR) is to bring metaphysics, inquiry striving for knowledge independently of experience, onto the secure course of sciences such as logic and physics. In short, Kant sought to establish metaphysics as a science. His chosen method for achieving this goal was a criticism of the human faculty of reason itself.

Structure

The architecture of the Critique can seem daunting to first-time readers. In understanding the comprehensiveness of this text, it is simpler to focus initially on its primary body, the "Doctrine of Elements". This part subdivides according to the two faculties which Kant primarily investigates - our sensibility and our understanding. To begin, Kant analyzes the former in the "Transcendental Aesthetic", individually expounding the formal conditions of directly representing objects. In the next part of the first doctrine, he covers the use and misuse of the understanding through the "Transcendental Logic". The formal conditions for thinking, judging, and cognizing are presenting in the section of the Logic known as the "Transcendental Analytic" while the overt and systematic criticism of the metaphysical use of reason comes forward in the "transcendental Dialectic". This is the general structure of the Doctrine of Elements.