Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, and Reading


Subject: Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, and Reading
From: jason varsoke (jjv@caesun.msd.ray.com)
Date: Thu Mar 16 2000 - 07:55:20 EST


Jim wrote:
> P.S. Sudden realization -- I'm reading, right now, Kant's Critique of Pure
> Reason,

   When I first read Kant's CofPR I didn't understand a bit of it. I was
frustrated, grumpy, and pissed-off at Kant for pulling rabbits out of hats
and building castles in the clouds. About four years later I came back to
him in a graduate class. Sometime in that four years my subconcious was
working on Kant - shadow boxing with him. When I read the CofPR this time
it made complete sense to me. While everyone except one other guy in the
class pissed and moaned about Kant and how unreadable he is (all with the
Prof agreeing) this other guy and I were trading insights. We were
vollying back and forth and answering student questions with the godly
confidence of Scottie. It was amazing. I really don't know what happened
with the text, or with me. I certainly didn't conciously approach the
text differently. But it was as if I was all of a sudden a native
speaker or Kantian Logic.

   I'm just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience, with
Kant or any other difficult writer. I'm wondering how common this
experience is, and if anyone knows what's going on.

   BTW: if you're struggling with Kant right now, here is my suggestion:
Take the cloud as foundation. Don't ask Kant to prove things like
Decartes. He won't. Instead, believe his assumptions and don't begrudge
him them. Basically, start where he does and then see if his system is
internally consistant. This, if anything, is what I believe the key to
Kant is.

-j

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