Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason — trans. F. Max Müller

592 ^ Discipline of Pure Reason in themselves (directly) they cannot even be known a priori. Thus the proposition that everything which happens has its cause, can never be thoroughly understood by means of the concepts alone which are contained in it ; hence it is no dogma in itself, although, from another point of view, that is, in the only field of its possible use, namely, in experience, it may be proved apodictically. It should be called, therefore, a principle, and not a precept or a dogma (though it is necessary that it should itself be proved), because it has this peculiarity that it first renders its own proof, namely, experience, possible, and has always to be presupposed for the sake of experience.

If, therefore, there are no dogmata whatever in the speculative use of pure reason, with regard to their contents also, all dogmatical methods, whether borrowed from mathematics or invented on purpose, are alike inappropriate. They only serve to hide mistakes and errors, and thus deceive philosophy, whose true object is to shed the clearest light on every step which reason takes. The method may, however, well be systematical ; for our reason (subjectively) is itself a system, though in its [p. 738] pure use, by means of mere concepts, a system intended for investigation only, according to principles of unity, to which experience alone can supply the material. We cannot, however, dwell here on the method of transcendental philosophy, because all we have to do at present is to take stock in order to find out whether we are able to build at all, and how high the edifice may be which we can erect with the materials at our command (the pure concepts a priori).

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METHOD OF TRANSCENDENTALISM

Section II

The Discipline of Pure Reason in its Polemical Use

Reason in all her undertakings must submit to criticism, and cannot attempt to limit the free exercise of such criticism without injury to herself, and without exposing herself to dangerous suspicion. There is nothing so important with reference to its usefulness, nothing so sacred, that it could withdraw itself from that searching examination which has no respect of persons. The very existence of reason depends on that freedom ; for reason can claim no dictatorial authority, but its decrees are rather like the votes of free citizens, every one of whom may freely express, not only his doubts, but even [p. 739] his veto.

But, though reason can never refuse to submit to criticism, it does not follow that she need always be afraid of it, while pure reason in her dogmatical (not mathematical) use is not so thoroughly conscious of having herself obeyed her own supreme laws as not to appear with a certain shyness, nay, without any of her assumed dogmatical authority, before the tribunal of a higher judicial reason.

The case is totally different when reason has to deal, not with the verdicts of a judge, but with the claims of her fellow-citizens, and has to defend itself only against these claims. For as these mean to be as dogmatical in their negations as reason is in her affirmations, reason may justify herself icar dv6po)7rov, so as to be safe against

2Q

594 Discipline of P^tre Reason all damages, and with a good title to her own property that need not fear any foreign claims, although KaT a\r)6eLav it could not itself be established with sufficient evidence.

By the polemical use of pure reason I mean the defence of her own propositions against dogmatical negations. Here the question is not, whether her own assertions may not themselves be false, but it is only to be shown that no one is ever able to prove the opposite with apodictic certainty, nay, even with a higher degree of plausibility. For we are not on sufferance in our possession, [p. 740] when, though our own title may not be sufficient, it is nevertheless quite certain that no one can ever prove its insufficiency.

It is sad, no doubt, and discouraging, that there should be an antithetic of pure reason, and that reason, being the highest tribunal for all conflicts, should be in conflict with herself. We had on a former occasion to treat of such an apparent antithetic, but we saw that it arose from a misunderstanding, phenomena, according to the common prejudice, being taken for things in themselves, and an absolute completeness of their synthesis being demanded in one way or other (being equally impossible in either way), a demand entirely unreasonable with regard to phenomena. There was, therefore, no real contradiction in reason herself when making the two propositions, ^r^"/, that the series of phenomena given by themselves has an absolutely first beginning ; and, secondly, that the series is absolutely and by /Vj-^^ without any beginning; for both propositions are perfectly consistent with each other, because phenomena, with regard to their existence as phenomena, are by themselves nothing, that is, something

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self-contradictory, so that their hypothesis must naturally lead to contradictory inferences. [p. 741]