Critique of Pure Reason 3 - Drying off on the Shores of the Synthetic A Priori
Details
Whew, another intense meeting! Thank you everyone for your participation. It's great to see some old friends returning and some new faces that are interested in this challenging philosopher.
HERE's WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT
David gave us a presentation of that section of Kant's doctrine known as the "Transcendental Analytic." This is the section of the book where Kant explains how it is that we are able to form concepts for thought and string them together into propositions. We haven't gotten to that part yet in our reading, so we will get more into detail about this once we get there. For now, though everyone has gotten their feet wet.
WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO NEXT TIME
In our meeting previous to this one we just finished, we discussed the A Introduction. We never got a chance to dance to the B side together, so we're gonna flip this over and experience that groove next time. So the assigned reading remains unchanged from the last time.
Introduction B
In Guyer, pages 136 through 152
Standard reference, B1 through B30
WHAT WAS COVERED IN THE LAST MEETING
There's no way I can do justice by summarizing David's presentation beyond what I've already described above. So instead of trying to do that, I want to highlight a passage in the B introduction for us to discuss for next time.
B3: "Thus, e.g., the proposition 'Every alteration has its cause' is an a priori proposition, only not pure, since alteration is a concept that can be drawn only from experience."
How can a judgment be a priori without being pure?
COMING UP
06/08/25 - Session 3 Finish Intro B
06/22/25 - Session 4, Transcendental Aesthetic, the A side
07/06/25 - Session 5, Transcendental Aesthetic, the B side
MORE NOTES/RESOURCES
MY REVAMPED, NEW AND IMPROVED, SLIDES, as of May 24, 2025:
CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON BLOG
CRITIQUE OF JUDGMENT BLOG
These essays are also pertinent to the Critique of Pure Reason in that they deal with the idea of a transcendental philosophy.
https://geraldpriddle.substack.com/p/1-critique-of-judgment?r=2rot22
https://geraldpriddle.substack.com/p/2-critique-of-judgment?r=2rot22
SOME RESOURCES FROM OUR FRIENDS
David is presenting his own slides tomorrow. He and Max have provided some Kant glossaries that might be helpful.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yx2eDVs3f0Nqw4llRJS1GmNz5d2PSxy3/view?usp=share_link
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dWkTcC5RnAxonm3iNdpCcFR3uFwvusnjZI21S2sykxs/edit?usp=sharing
https://www.academia.edu/5900719/Glossary_for_Kants_Critique_of_Pure_Reason
KANT'S OTHER WRITINGS
I am also hosting a meetup that's discussing Critique of Judgment on alternating Sundays. For anyone interested in that, here's the link to the next meeting.
Here's the latest essay concerning Critique of Judgment and also one concerning the Groundwork of a Metaphysics of Morals:
Groundwork #1 -
COJ #3 -
Critique of Pure Reason 3 - Drying off on the Shores of the Synthetic A Priori