In Immaneul Kant’s work, Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics, the principle idea or question of discussion is whether or not metaphysics is possible. Although this is clearly the objective of his argument, the author is not concerned with constructing metaphysics. Rather he uses this question as a method of articulating the problem of modern philosophy, for by creating an inquiry of the theory of metaphysics one is forced to examine its conditions of possibility. This problem of modern philosophy is based on the gap between the phenomenal and the noumenal, or the experience of reality and the knowledge of reality, as illustrated by the renowned empiricist, David Hume. According to Hume, we are fundamentally limited to the phenomenal, holding only our impressions as true based on perception. In contrast, Kant introduced the idea that the mind leaves an impression on perception, which illustrates cooperation between the mind and experience based on their conformity, t!
hus explaining knowledge. This innate form has been given to us, and through time and space we are allowed a certain amount of flexibility within boundaries. The genius of Kant lies in the fact that he created an image of reality that was not possible
. . .
If a further statement were made, you would be crossing the line from the phenomenal to the noumenal. Once you attempt to describe the specifics of God, it is inevitable that you will come up short, for no individual has adequately enough experienced God to develop such a conclusion. In contrast, the assumption concerning the experience of God would lead us to believe that philosophy in general is irrelevant. In effect, we would become apathetic to reason, which is contrary to human nature. We can never know the whole of our experience because there is always the possibility of a contrasting event altering our understanding. When we speak of God we don’t create the dogmatic assumptions that Hume describes, rather we construct symbolic explanations that relate different things to allow characterization. Therefore, we constitute our experiences through intuitions, which allows understanding to occur. Kant uses the three transcendental ideas of psychological, cosmological, and theological (as they were illustrated by Hume) to portray how reason systematically unifies our experience. However, what ensures that these representations are accurate?
The fact of the matter is that one can deduce from Hume’s theory that knowledge derived from experience is uncertain. However, nothing more can be stated as fact.
Kant’s theory comes into consideration at this point for Hume’s skepticism has now contradicted itself. As a result of this inconsistency, Kant takes the liberty of altering the point of focus from the conditioned to the very condition of possibility. The theory was that it was not that the world is logical; rather our mind is constructed in a manner in which logic is created to make sense of reality. Due to the fact that the point of reference was now altered, this idea created a revolution for philosophy for the new paradigm shifted schools of thought. The problem of this lies within the fact that our knowledge is restricted to appearances, for we will never know the true nature of things as they are in themselves.
Approximate Word count =
858
Approximate Pages =
3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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