Critique of Practical Reason (Great Books in Philosophy) [Paperback]

Immanuel Kant (Author), T. K. Abbott (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1573920630 | ISBN-13: 978-1573920636 | Publication Date: June 1996

In his "Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals", Immanuel Kant outlined the structure of moral reasoning, but to reach this critical point in his philosophy he had to demonstrate how reasoning about ethics could emerge. While the "Critique of Pure Reason" offers the foundation for his theories of knowledge and reality and the manner in which we come to possess ideas about the world, Kant's "Critique of Practical Reason" shows how these mental processes are linked how the mind moves from a formal understanding of reasoning in general to moral reasoning in particular.

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Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

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Product Details

• Paperback: 193 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books (June 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573920630
• ISBN-13: 978-1573920636
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,788,401 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) was one of the most influential philosophers of all time. His comprehensive and profound thinking on aesthetics, ethics, and knowledge has had an immense impact on all subsequent philosophy.

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29 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars christian apologetics? did you actually read the book?, May 6, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Critique of Practical Reason (Great Books in Philosophy) (Paperback)

It's a classic of western philosophy as was just about everything Kant wrote, but that's not my purpose in writing this. I want to refute the silly notion that this is "nothing but Christian apologetics." Merely believing in a higher being does not make one a Christian. Aristotle, Plato, Spinoza, Hegel, and yes Kant all believed in a higher power of some sort (as do Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and many sects of Buddhists) but none of them were Christians. To be a Christian, if the word is to have any meaning at all, requires some beliefs about Jesus, in particular that he was the son of God. Kant discounts every miracle associated with Jesus, and not only that but anyone who knows the first thing about his system as a whole realizes that he would hold that the very idea of God having a human son to be utterly absurd (though Kant left us to draw this conclusion as stating these sorts of things too explicitly in 18th century Prussia was a good way to end up in jail or at least out of work). Given all that, in what sense could Kant possibly be a Christian? Now Kant does believe that Christianity expresses some ethical truths and that Jesus as portrayed in the bible was a good human being, but then again Bertrand Russell says the same things in "Why I'm Not a Christian," which in case anyone was wondering is not usually considered to be a work of Christian apologetics. Kant does claim that morality impels us to have faith that there is a God, but he steadfastly holds that we cannot anthropomorphize this being in any way (i.e. there can be no angry God nor happy God because these are the emotions of beings like us and make no sense when applied to God). This is almost impossible to reconcile with any view that could meaningfully be called Christian. Anyone interested in Kant's views on religion should check out Wood's essay on this topic in "The Cambridge Companion to Kant" and Susan Neiman also has some interesting things to say about the role of religion in Kant's philosophy in her "Evil in Modern Thought."

9 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Making the ideas stick, October 6, 2005

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FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Critique of Practical Reason (Paperback)

The 'Critique of Practical Reason' is the second volume in Immanuel Kant's major Critique project. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) is considered one of the giants of philosophy, of his age or any other. It is largely this book that provides the foundation of this assessment. Whether one loves Kant or hates him (philosophically, that is), one cannot really ignore him; even when one isn't directly dealing with Kantian ideas, chances are great that Kant is made an impact.

Kant was a professor of philosophy in the German city of Konigsberg, where he spent his entire life and career. Kant had a very organised and clockwork life - his habits were so regular that it was considered that the people of Konigsberg could set their clocks by his walks. The same regularity was part of his publication history, until 1770, when Kant had a ten-year hiatus in publishing. This was largely because he was working on this book, the 'Critique of Pure Reason'. He then published this second installment, 'Critique of Practical Reason', seven years later.

Kant as a professor of philosophy was familiar with the Rationalists, such as Descartes, who founded the Enlightenment and in many ways started the phenomenon of modern philosophy. He was also familiar with the Empiricist school (John Locke and David Hume are perhaps the best known names in this), which challenged the rationalist framework. Between Leibniz' monads and Hume's development of Empiricism to its logical (and self-destructive) conclusion, coupled with the Romantic ideals typified by Rousseau, the philosophical edifice of the Enlightenment seemed about to topple.

The foundations of this text (a much briefer one than the first Critique) can be found in the short volume 'Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals'. Whereas 'Groundwork' sets out some short, basic principles, the Critique is a more synthetic text - it takes these principles and combines them with experiences, then presenting them 'as the structure of a peculiar cognitive faculty, in their natural combination.'

According to translator and scholar Lewis White Beck, this second Critique has two functions - it affirms concepts 'without which moral experience would be unintelligible or impossible' while it negates dogmatism and fanaticism that claims unique ultimate insight into metaphysical realities. Kant does make his argument for the existence of the immortal soul and for God in this volume, but these are considered lesser areas of Kant's competence. His discussion of freedom and autonomy, carried forward from his discussion in 'Groundwork', is much more studied and used in today's philosophical circles.

1 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Continuing exploration, November 6, 2006

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Matko Vladanovic (Zagreb, Croatia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Critique of Practical Reason (Great Books in Philosophy) (Paperback)

As long as you are searching for this book, you are interested in western moral philosophy. I still have to find someone who would take one of Kant's volumes out of his own accord and gaze at that person with wonder and amazement.

But, if you are starting with Kant you are making the mistake. For understanding of Kantinan revolution you have to know at least fundaments of other moral philosophies, especially those of Plato and Aristotle. Again, I cannot offer any kind of rating about this particular translation, if you can read German I sincerely recommend reading this work on it.

Kantian question of method, which he discusses in the third and closing part of this book is maybe one of the most challenging adventures in moral philosophy. Philosophers before Kant stated what is good and than proposed how to achieve that state, whatever it was. Kantian method is quite contrary and Kant himself pinpoints on this. First, there is a method, and by following that method we will be/act good.

There is much too little space here to elaborate all of Kantian concepts and there are much to discuss. Including existence of free will in world of causalities, hypothetical and categorical imperatives and such. Don't be driven back by sometimes harsh language that Kant uses. Under there lies one of the greatest thoughts of western civilisation.