Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Synopsis How is knowledge possible? Kant thought that our inability to answer this simple question was the great `scandal of philosophy,' and he set about eliminating that scandal in his Critique of pure reason. Many have thought that Kant's own solution turned out to be more scandalous than the problem he set out to solve. His solution is that we can know the world just because we make the world: the world's structure and order is something we ourselves introduce. The first part of the subject will be devoted to the first sections of the Critique of pure reason, the `Transcendental aesthetic' and the `Transcendental analytic,' where Kant argues for his positive proposal, transcendental idealism. The second part of the subject will be devoted to the latter part of the critique, the `Transcendental dialectic'. Here Kant turns his attention to some problems that have traditionally hounded human thought. He sets out to show that transcendental idealism will supply us with both diagnosis and cure for these philosophical ills.
Assessment Written (6000 words): 100% + Optional replacement of one essay by a 3-hour examination