Critical Philosophy: Immanuel Kant and the Critique of Pure Reason Open Access

Abstract

Abstract
Critical Philosophy:
Immanuel Kant and the Critique of Pure Reason
By
Colin McQuillan

Critical Philosophy: Immanuel Kant and the Critique of Pure Reason examines the concept of "critique," as it is employed by Immanuel Kant in the Critique
of Pure Reason (1781/1787). While many readers assume that Kant intended the Critique of Pure Reason to
establish the limits of reason, my dissertation shows that the work attempts to determine the possibility
of a science of metaphysics through a critique of the faculty of human reason. The critical approach to
metaphysics that Kant develops in the Critique of Pure Reason is novel, because critique had been a
primarily philological concept in the eighteenth century, when it was associated with the authentication
of ancient texts and the determination of their sources. Kant appropriated the term in the early 1770's,
applying it to a problem with which he had been concerned since the time of his earliest, "pre-critical"
works. This is the problem of the proper method of metaphysics. The discussions of a critique of pure
reason that are to be found in Kant's notes, lectures, and correspondence, as well as the Critique of Pure
Reason itself, afford us a unique insight into the development of Kant's "critical" philosophy, when we
realize that they are the direct result of Kant's application of the concept of critique to problem of the
proper method of metaphysics. By examining these texts, my dissertation helps scholars to understand
the reasons why Kant thought the possibility of a science of metaphysics depended upon the
determination and authentication of the sources of metaphysics in the faculties of human reason. It
provides a historical and contextual account of the development of Kant's critical philosophy which is
unique in the scholarly literature.

Critical Philosophy:
Immanuel Kant and the Critique of Pure Reason

By
Colin McQuillan
B.A. Loyola University Chicago, 2002
M.A. Boston College, 2004
Advisor: Dr. Rudolf Makkreel
A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the
James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies of Emory University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy
2009

Table of Contents

CRITICAL PHILOSOPHY:
IMMANUEL KANT AND THE "CRITIQUE" OF PURE REASON
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

iii
INTRODUCTION
v
CHAPTER 1: THE GENUINE AGE OF CRITICISM
1.1: ANALYSIS AND REFLECTION UPON LIMITS
3
1.2: CRITIQUE IN THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT
15
1.3: THE GENUINE AGE OF CRITICISM AND THE CRITIQUE
36
OF PURE REASON
CHAPTER 2: SO FAR NO METAPHYSICS HAS EVER BEEN WRITTEN
2.1: THE DISTINCTNESS OF METAPHYSICS
51
2.2: THE PROPER METHOD OF METAPHYSICS
68
2.3: ERRONEOUS JUDGMENTS AND MISTAKEN PROCEDURES
79
2.4: IN PURE PHILOSOPHY, METHOD PRECEDES ALL SCIENCE
101
CHAPTER 3: THE KEY TO THE WHOLE SECRET OF METAPHYSICS
3.1: THE FIRST TITLE OF THE CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON
112
3.2: FROM THE FORM AND PRINCIPLES OF THE SENSIBLE AND THE
118
INTELLIGIBLE WORLD TO THE BOUNDS OF SENSIBILITY AND
REASON
3.3: FROM THE GROUND OF THE RELATION BETWEEN
128
REPRESENTATIONS AND OBJECTS TO THE CRITIQUE
OF PURE REASON

Document Outline

• 1 Distribution Agreement
• 2 Approval Sheet
• 3 Abstract Title Page
• 4 Abstract
• 5 Title Page
• 6 Table of Contents
• 7 Acknowledgments
• Dissertation Chapter 1 Final 03.03.2010
• Dissertation Chapter 2 Final 03.03.2010
• Dissertation Chapter 3 Final 03.03.2010
• Dissertation Chapter 4 Final 03.03.2010
• Dissertation Chapter 5 Final 03.03.2010
• Dissertation Bibliography Final 03.03.2010

About this Dissertation

Rights statement

• Permission granted by the author to include this thesis or dissertation in this repository. All rights reserved by the author. Please contact the author for information regarding the reproduction and use of this thesis or dissertation.

School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Philosophy
Degree	PhD
Submission	Dissertation
Language	English
Research Field	Philosophy
Keyword	Critique of Pure Reason modern philosophy philosophy critique Kant, Immanuel
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Makkreel, Rudolf A, Emory University
Committee Members	Carr, David, Emory University Pacini, David S, Emory University Goldenbaum, Ursula, Emory University Ameriks, Karl, Notre Dame

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