0

I am just starting to read Kant's Critique of Pure Reason translated by Max Mueller. In the introductory chapter, "General truths, which at the same time, bear the character of an inward necessity, must be independent of experience".

So as I understand - this ^ assumes the existence of "general truths", also called "knowledge a priori" as opposed to "knowledge a posteriori, taken from experience".

Is there any good discussion of this specific assumption about the existence of a priori knowledge? In particular, does it have to exist?

Further on, "even if we remove from experience everything that belongs to the senses, there remain certain original concepts" - this troubles me because how can one remove from experience everything that belongs to the senses? And how can one know that the things that are remain (the pure concepts) are not in some convoluted way related to the senses or the affects?

Improve this question
4
  • 1
    I think a proper first step would be to use a more up-to-date and scholarly translation such as Critique of Pure Reason, ed. Paul Guyer & Allen Wood, 2008, in the Cambridge Edition of the Works of Immanuel Kant. You really would, I think, find this helpful - and btw welcome to PSE.
    – Geoffrey Thomas ♦
    Apr 24, 2022 at 18:07
  • Thanks! I have in fact the American translation as well. I went with the Max Mueller version because Kant's original is in German and I figured a German author would best translate the long/winding German sentences and the hard-to-exactly-translate German words into (albeit somewhat dated and somewhat European) English. Is the Guyer & Wood translation faithful to the spirit of the original?
    – ahron
    Apr 25, 2022 at 6:38
  • 1
    One problem with Mueller is that his English is now dated whatever his mastery of the original German. Also, Guyer and Wood not only are adequately competent in 18th-century German - they are scholars after all, published by a world-class university - but their translation is informed by the large body of Kantian scholarship that has flourished since Meuller produced his translation. But I can understand your query and you did well to put it.
    – Geoffrey Thomas ♦
    Apr 25, 2022 at 8:40
  • Yes, I had a look, it indeed takes less effort to comprehend. Thanks!
    – ahron
    Apr 26, 2022 at 3:29

0

Reset to default

You must log in to answer this question.

Browse other questions tagged .