The Kant project is to make explicit the limits of human knowledge in general and this is made explicit in particular in the Transcendental Dialectics section of the Critique of Pure Reason. To understand this we must first look at his project as a whole. Kant distinguishes two forms of logic, general and transcendental. General logic deals with the form of thought in general without any relation of that thought to any object. While transcendental logic deals with the formal rules of thinking objects in general. Kant argues that neither generally given rules nor transcendental logic can by themselves provide any knowledge of objects. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayThe attempt made by human reason to deduce knowledge of objects from general and transcendental logic is defined by Kant as "dialectical". These dialectical attempts are criticized by Kant in the Transcendental Dialectics section of the Critique. Any application of transcendental concepts to things in general and to things in themselves is not possible simply because the pure concepts of the intellect can only possess knowledge when applied to the conditions of sensibility (space and time). That is, all concepts that do not refer to intuition are empty, this does not mean that these concepts arise from experience but rather these pure concepts arise with experience. Even though these pure concepts are not reducible to experience, they are still experience-bound. Therefore, any attempt to acquire knowledge of objects through pure concepts alone is excluded from Kant's transcendental epistemology. Implicit in this is the criticism of both early modern empiricists and rationalists. For example, Leibniz attempted to deduce all knowledge of phenomena only through pure concepts. Locke, on the other hand, extends the conditions of sensibility to all objects. They did not recognize, according to Kant, that both understanding and sensitivity are necessary and irreducible to each other. In the Transcendental Dialectic Kant explores this concept in depth. The "logic of illusion" for Kant is guided by reason itself, by this need for knowledge that goes beyond all experience. Kant calls this supposed knowledge “transcendent,” distinguishing it from his use of the term transcendental. Kant tries to expose the illusions of transcendent judgments in the Transcendental Dialectics section. Remember: this is just an example. Get a custom article from our expert writers now. Get a custom essay The problem is not simply that we inappropriately apply concepts beyond our capabilities but rather reason contains within itself the need to go beyond its limits. This need, according to Kant, is the tendency of reasons to consider the subjective necessity of the unification of thought as an objective characteristic of things. By subjective necessity Kant means the need for a unity of thought or explanation. Kant goes on to expand on this concept in detail in the remainder of the Dialectics of Cytics section.
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