57 pages 1 hour read

Immanuel Kant

Critique of Pure Reason

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1781

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Part II: “Transcendental Logic,” Book I, Chapter I

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Transcendental Doctrine of Elements

Part II: Transcendental Logic, Book I: Analytic of Concepts: Introduction - Chapter I, Section I Summary

Next, Kant engages the second half of the doctrine of the elements: the transcendental logic. According to Kant, all cognition arises from intuition or concepts. Intuitions are given in sensibility and concepts are given in the understanding. Kant writes, “Only from their union can cognition arise” (107). Both intuitions and concepts can be either pure or empirical. They are empirical if they involve sensations, and they are pure if not.

Kant is now concerned with pure understanding. Logic is “the science of the rules of the understanding” (107). A pure, general logic completely abstracts from the content of thought and deals only with the form of that thought. These are the a priori laws governing the use of the understanding. Kant’s transcendental approach to logic deals with the origins of these laws. Agreement with the formal laws of logic is not enough to guarantee truth, but it is a necessary condition.

Kant makes an important distinction between analytic and dialectical logic. The analytical use of logic examines its elementary components. The dialectical use of logic leads to illusions by making illegitimate claims about objects without access to the proper information.

Related Titles

By Immanuel Kant

Study Guide

logo

Critique of Practical Reason

Immanuel Kant

Critique of Practical Reason

Immanuel Kant

Study Guide

logo

Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals

Immanuel Kant

Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals

Immanuel Kant

Plot Summary

logo

Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics

Immanuel Kant

Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics

Immanuel Kant

Study Guide

logo

What Is Enlightenment?

Immanuel Kant

What Is Enlightenment?

Immanuel Kant