CHAPTER IV. The History of Pure Reason
This title is placed here merely for the purpose of designating a
Division of the system of pure reason of which I do not intend to treat
At present. I shall content myself with casting a cursory glance, from
A purely transcendental point of view--that of the nature of pure
Reason--on the labours of philosophers up to the present time. They have
Aimed at erecting an edifice of philosophy; but to my eye this edifice
Appears to be in a very ruinous condition
It is very remarkable, although naturally it could not have been
Otherwise, that, in the infancy of philosophy, the study of the nature
Of God and the constitution of a future world formed the commencement
Rather than the conclusion, as we should have it, of the speculative
Efforts of the human mind. However rude the religious conceptions
Generated by the remains of the old manners and customs of a less
Cultivated time, the intelligent cla**es were not thereby prevented from
Devoting themselves to free inquiry into the existence and nature of
God; and they easily saw that there could be no surer way of pleasing
The invisible ruler of the world, and of attaining to happiness in
Another world at least, than a good and honest course of life in this
Thus theology and morals formed the two chief motives, or rather the
Points of attraction in all abstract inquiries. But it was the former
That especially occupied the attention of speculative reason, and which
Afterwards became so celebrated under the name of metaphysics
I shall not at present indicate the periods of time at which the
Greatest changes in metaphysics took place, but shall merely give a
Hasty sketch of the different ideas which occasioned the most important
Revolutions in this sphere of thought. There are three different ends in
Relation to which these revolutions have taken place
1. In relation to the object of the cognition of reason, philosophers
May be divided into sensualists and intellectualists. Epicurus may be
Regarded as the head of the former, Plato of the latter. The distinction
Here signalized, subtle as it is, dates from the earliest times, and was
Long maintained. The former a**erted that reality resides in sensuous
Objects alone, and that everything else is merely imaginary; the latter
That the senses are the parents of illusion and that truth is to
Be found in the understanding alone. The former did not deny to the
Conceptions of the understanding a certain kind of reality; but with
Them it was merely logical, with the others it was mystical. The former
Admitted intellectual conceptions, but declared that sensuous objects
Alone possessed real existence. The latter maintained that all real
Objects were intelligible, and believed that the pure understanding
Possessed a faculty of intuition apart from sense, which, in their
Opinion, served only to confuse the ideas of the understanding
2. In relation to the origin of the pure cognitions of reason, we find
One school maintaining that they are derived entirely from experience
And another that they have their origin in reason alone. Aristotle may
Be regarded as the bead of the empiricists, and Plato of the noologists
Locke, the follower of Aristotle in modern times, and Leibnitz of Plato
(although he cannot be said to have imitated him in his mysticism)
Have not been able to bring this question to a settled conclusion
The procedure of Epicurus in his sensual system, in which he always
Restricted his conclusions to the sphere of experience, was much more
Consequent than that of Aristotle and Locke. The latter especially
After having derived all the conceptions and principles of the mind
From experience, goes so far, in the employment of these conceptions and
Principles, as to maintain that we can prove the existence of God and
The existence of God and the immortality of them objects lying beyond
The soul--both of them of possible experience--with the same force of
Demonstration as any mathematical proposition
3. In relation to method. Method is procedure according to principles
We may divide the methods at present employed in the field of inquiry
Into the naturalistic and the scientific. The naturalist of pure reason
Lays it down as his principle that common reason, without the aid of
Science--which he calls sound reason, or common sense--can give a more
Satisfactory answer to the most important questions of metaphysics than
Speculation is able to do. He must maintain, therefore, that we can
Determine the content and circumference of the moon more certainly
By the naked eye, than by the aid of mathematical reasoning. But this
System is mere misology reduced to principles; and, what is the most
Absurd thing in this doctrine, the neglect of all scientific means is
Paraded as a peculiar method of extending our cognition. As regards
Those who are naturalists because they know no better, they are
Certainly not to be blamed. They follow common sense, without parading
Their ignorance as a method which is to teach us the wonderful secret
How we are to find the truth which lies at the bottom of the well of
Democritus
Quod sapio satis est mihi, non ego curo Esse quod
Arcesilas aerumnosique Solones. PERSIUS
--Satirae, iii. 78-79
Is their motto, under which they may lead a pleasant and praiseworthy
Life, without troubling themselves with science or troubling science
With them
As regards those who wish to pursue a scientific method, they have now
The choice of following either the dogmatical or the sceptical, while
They are bound never to desert the systematic mode of procedure. When I
Mention, in relation to the former, the celebrated Wolf, and as regards
The latter, David Hume, I may leave, in accordance with my present
Intention, all others unnamed. The critical path alone is still open
If my reader has been kind and patient enough to accompany me on this
Hitherto untravelled route, he can now judge whether, if he and others
Will contribute their exertions towards making this narrow footpath
A high road of thought, that which many centuries have failed to
Accomplish may not be executed before the close of the present--namely
To bring Reason to perfect contentment in regard to that which has
Always, but without permanent results, occupied her powers and engaged
Her ardent desire for knowledge