Customer Reviews

Introducing Kant

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1 star:		(7)

 

 

I really do enjoy the "Introducing..." series of books. However this is a very poor installment. Unclear, jargon heavy and with examples that make obscure the concept discussed. Anyone new to Kant would be better served by "Introducing Philosophy" or "Introducing the Enlightenment".

I got this book long ago before I really knew much about Kant, and I thought it was somewhat helpful though it left a lot of mysteries and loose ends. Now that I have studied Kant and read hundreds of pages of his texts, I can safely say that this book is, at best, murky and unhelpful, and at worst (which is quite often), extremely misleading. Except for the Categorical Imperative, this book does not motivate or explain the revolutionary character of any of Kant's ideas. For example, it tells you that Kant believed that the mind has innate categories in terms of which it interprets the world, but no attempt is made to explain what Kant means by these transcendental categories (e.g., that they are rules for combining representations) or the significance of this break with tradition. The other major problem with this book is that though Kant is a systematic philosopher if ever there was one, with all of his positions being intimately connected, this book treats Kantian ideas in isolation, saying almost nothing about how they relate to one another.

These faults are not due to the limitations of the format of a brief overview. Roger Scruton shows exactly how to summarize a complex and difficult philosopher in his *Kant: A Very Short Introduction*, which I strongly suggest instead of this book (Note: I like other books in the "Introducing..." series, so it's not that I'm against the comic book approach). Sure, there are no drawings in Scruton's book; instead you get words that actually tell you what you need to know.

The bad reviews of this book are unfortunate, but perhaps somewhat understandable as it is clearly an unorthodox reading of Kant, where one would expect the orthodox, traditional reading for an introductory text. However, I happen to find the writer's approach very refreshing, as the traditionalist readings of Kant tend to fail to convey contemporary relevance and thus fail to excite the reader about philosophical thinking.

This reading brings to life Kant's continuing relevance to philosophy across the board, but especially to the Continental, phenomenological, existential, deconstructive, etc. strands of thought. If you are familiar at all with Hegel, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Derrida, etc. and their reading of the history of Western metaphysics as a struggle with the concept of 'presence' -- a problem the Anglo-American Analytic tradition tends to misunderstand in their criticisms of phenomenological 'irrationalism' -- then you will find this book a redemption of 'boring old Kant', revealed here as the first thinker to address the problem of the concept of presence (and meaning) in a contemporary way. In this way the book is particularly revealing of the problematic many Continental thinkers have been dealing with (in their admittedly obscure languages) in light of their famous forebear.

In another review here by Mr. Joshua Malle, he recognizes and seems to personally appreciate the reading of Kant given in this book, but worries perhaps that it will be too difficult to comprehend for the poor, uninitiated masses who should get something more leveled down. Well, there really are plenty of other introductory titles that give the text-book introduction to Kant. I personally encountered this book before I had a broad grasp of the Continental tradition in general and I found that this book made me interested in Kant, and inspired me to read the other, traditional approaches to him as well.

It is often noted that Kant's 3rd Critique -- the Critique of Judgment -- can be read in either a conservative or radical manner for ultimate, metaphysical implications. The latter reading, which appreciates the affirmation of aesthetics, can be understood as the birthplace of what we now call the Continental tradition in philosophy. "Introducing Kant" by Want exemplifies the Continental tradition's reading of Kant as affirming the irreducibly aesthetic character of philosophical practice in the 3rd Critique.

Badly done. If you want to be impressed by Mr. Want's intelligence, then this is the book for you. If you want to read a book that will introduce you to Kant's philosophy, then save your money. I took a philosophy course in college which gave me the rudiments of Kant but after reading this book I feel I know less now than I did before. It's a shame too, Kant lays down the groundwork for philosophy that has influenced many great thinkers since his time. I'm afraid after reading this book many readers will not bother to look any further into a philosopher that Mr. Want has rendered benign. Icon books should seriously consider re-doing this topic. Reading Kant's original works is not any more difficult than the text written by Mr. Want. Very disappointing............

Normally I love the "Introducing . . ." series. They are typically cleverly written, light-hearted and effectively communicate complicated ideas in interesting ways.

This was not a good example.

This book was so full of jargon that only a student of latin and/or philosophy would be able to understand it. The author and his editor has missed the point of these books - to demystify philosophy, not to continue to shroud it in terminology.

Steer clear of this book and try "Philosophy the Basics" by Nigel Warburton for a very lucid introduction to the basic questions of: Why are we here? How did we get here? Is there a God? How should we act toward each other?

Kul-Want presents a "continental" reading of Kant as a proto-deconstructionist. In doing so he employs a great deal of unexplained terminology that serves to obscure the ideas of an already difficult thinker, thus making the book unsuitable for beginners.

Here, subjects are "dispossessed from the event of nothing happening" (p. 67). Reason is "absent", is "sacrificed", is "mourned", is an "object of grief", or "makes a gift of itself." (pp. 67, 68, 104). Freedom is "perpetually sacrificed in order to give rise to the moral law of representation as failure." (p. 102). The reader is told that for Kant, "there is no longer a concept of presence, so absence loses its connotation of negation (absence of presence), as metaphysics had formerly supposed" (p. 51).

That's all well and good, but it would only make sense to a reader who had somehow miraculously managed to master the works of Heidegger, Derrida and Deleuze without first reading Kant. An introduction should not presuppose any specialized knowledge. It should focus on presenting a few key concepts, i.e. the noumenal vs. the phenomenal, the distinction between analytic, synthetic and synthetic a priori judgments, etc. and some historical context.

The treatment of the Second Critique crosses the line into misrepresentation. A cartoon Kant is made to declaim, "I firmly believe [... that] there are no certain guidelines for moral behavior." (p. 90.) This is demonstrated by a misreading of the moral examples in the final section of the Second Critique (Kul-Want presents them as moral dilemmas; Kant presents them as examples improperly motivated actions). The moral law is said to be "always already failing to stabilize into a set of prescriptions for correct behavior (p. 95). A student would get a very inaccurate idea of Kant's moral philosophy from this section.

There is a real need for a book to introduce Kant's philosophy to beginners. I agree with the reviewer who hopes that Introducing series will re-do this one.

This is the second book I've read in the Introducing series, having first read the volume on Jean Jacques Rousseau, which I found to be well-written, interesting, and helpful. The Introducing series promises succinct, in-a-nutshell overviews of a variety of scholarly topics, combining concise text with graphic art. Upon picking up this volume on Kant, I could tell right away the art was horrible and would offer little help in elucidating the subject matter. However, I purchased the book anyway, solely for its text, based on my experience with the Rousseau volume. Unfortunately, Introducing Kant proved to be a major disappointment.

The reason philosophy is not commonly read by the general public is because it utilizes heavy amounts of field-specific jargon that hinders the understanding of the average uninitiated reader. The reason one buys a volume from the Introducing series is to avoid that very jargon. If difficult terminology is necessary, then it should be clearly defined before being implemented. Apparently Christopher Kul-Want did not get the memo. Though Kant's philosophical writings are notoriously difficult to understand, Kul-Want seems determined to give the master a run for his money. I pity the students of undergraduate philosophy courses who may be assigned this book as a text. The only portions of the book that are clearly understandable are the brief passages offering historical and biographical details. The examination of Kant's thought, primarily focused on his three Critiques, is rendered in prose that is largely unintelligible. Kul-Want presupposes a knowledge of theory and a familiarity with philosophical jargon on the part of the reader that is inappropriate for this venue.

I'm not qualified to argue with Kul-Want's conclusions concerning Kant. Perhaps among his peers this book is considered a revelation. The fault here really lies with the publisher. Shame on Icon Books for including this as part of their Introducing series. The purpose of these books should be to summarize and to simplify. Introducing Kant fails its intended audience. The only readers who will understand this book are those who already have a thorough understanding of its topic. The rest of us, hoping for an education on Kant, are left to scratch our heads.

This is an "introduction" to Kant only for people who find Kant himself too accessible. The author doesn't understand Kant, and after reading this, neither will you.

Clarifies complicated concepts simply and directly, but the book still has depth, and solid scholarly information. Fun approach and guide for students or anyone new to the ideas of Kant and his time.

I was hoping for a book that could explain in simple terms some of Kant thoughts. This book is not that.