Description
Book SynopsisThis rigorous examination of Kant''s Critique of Pure Reason provides a comprehensive analysis of the major metaphysical and epistemological questions of Kant''s most famous work. Author James Van Cleve presents clear and detailed discussions of Kant''s positions and arguments on these themes, as well as critical assessments of Kant''s reasoning and conclusions. Expansive in its scope, Van Cleves study covers the overall structure of Kant''s idealism, the existence and nature of synthetic a priori knowledge, the epistemology of geometry, and the ontological status of space, time, and matter. Other topics explored are the role of synthesis and the categories in making experience and objects of experience possible, the concepts of substance and causation, issues surrounding Kant''s notion of the thing in itself, the nature of the thinking self, and the arguments of rational theology. A concluding chapter discusses the affinities between Kant''s idealism and contemporary antirealism, in
Trade Review"This book will be enjoyed not only by those philosophers interested in Kant, but by those interested in metaphysics and epistemology more generally. He writes with directness and accessibility and care; there can be few recent books on the problems of Kant's First Critique that treat so great a range of arguments with such seriousness and sophistication. Van Cleve is a sympathetic interpreter, often finding himself on Kant's side. Clarity and rigor are among the book's notable virtues. There is an impressive knowledge of the contemporary English language. In their precision, originality and brevity, these are gems of analysis, which prove as useful for introducing students to these topics as for shedding light on Kant. This is a splendid book."--The Philosophical Review
