Critique of Pure Reason
by Immanuel Kant · first published 2007
21% recommend74% neutral5% critical
Why HN recommends it
Foundational work on how the mind's own structures shape what we can perceive and know, and on the limits of logic alone; suits readers who want to rethink empiricism, science, and reason after Hume and Descartes.
Common criticism: Dense, hard to follow, and feels unpolished to some readers
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Immanuel Kant's Critique of pure reason is one of the most rewarding and difficult of all philosophical works. Norman Kemp Smith's translation is immensely valuable, not simply because he rendered Kant's language into readable English, but also because his own extensive understanding of the Critique made him acutely aware of the pitfalls of translation. This text is that of the second edition of 1787, with an additional translation of all first edition passages which in the second edition were either altered or omitted. For this reissue of Norman Kemp Smith's classic 1929 edition, Howard Caygi
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…"aha!" moments in my own life, but will perhaps serve as a useful beach head for your own investigations: * Descartes' Meditations * Locke Essay Concerning Human Understanding * Hobbes Leviathan * Kant Critique of Pure Reason * Kant Prolegomena * Kuhn Structure of Scientific Revolution * Hegel Phenomenology of Spirit * Foucault Discipline & Punish * Sellars Epistemology and the Philosophy of Mind * Sellars The Scientific…
on “Ask HN: Learning about philosophy” ↗…secondary academic texts. His list takes too long, and my life is too short to read a bunch of fluff. The books I have studied in depth are: Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Nietzsche The Republic by Plato A Critique of Pure Reason by Kant The Phenomenology of the Spirit by Hegel Life is so short, read nothing but the cornerstones (this may not be that) of western thought. A great author for secondary texts is Stanley Rosen.…
on “So You Want to Study Philosophy” ↗…Descartes - Meditations Spinoza - On the improvement of Understanding Leibniz - Monadology Leibniz - Grace Voltaire - Candid Diderot - D'Alembert's Dream Kant - How to orient oneself in thinking Kant - Critique of Pure Reason Kant - Critique of Judgment Hegel - Phenomenology of Spirit Hegel - Logic von Kleist - Marionette Theatre Kierkegaard - The Sickness Unto Death Heidegger - Being and Time Sartre - Being and Nothingness…
on “Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?” ↗…the later works I'm going to recommend. In the same way, Descartes is necessary, at least a general idea of his works. Read a bit about the exchanges between Hume and Berkeley to finally reach Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. Not only is the Critique a cornerstone of all philosophy but it shows you how philosophy should be conducted--carefully, rigorously, and by finding the limits of the scope of a subject so it may be…
on “Ask HN: Learning about philosophy” ↗Critique of Pure Reason Philosophical Investigations The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Foucault's Pendulum Snopes == The Hamlet, The Town, The Mansion. A River Runs Through It Programming Erlang: Software for a Concurrent World…
on “Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?” ↗…mean to imply that any of them challenged my world view. Only that each shaped my mental models. Foucault's Pendulum is about semiotics on one level and cretins, fools, morons, and lunatics on another. Critique of Pure Reason put radical philosophical skepticism (and hence empiricism) in perspective. I find the model of the human mind useful in some situations. Thank you for the recommendation. My philosophy reading days…
on “Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?” ↗Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit. Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. Hofstadter's Godel, Escher, Bach. I also recommend Zizek's The Sublime Object of Ideology, but it's dense, so his film The Pervert's Guide to Ideology is a good stand in.
on “Simulacra and Simulation” ↗…overall "floor" in regards to the "depth" you can reach. Let me compare and contrast. This may sound cheesy, but the quoted text above reminds me very much of Kant and the approach he had laid out in his Critique of Pure Reason, which I very much recommend and had the pleasure to (to a most definitely quite limited degree) grok, partly. (I think it's quite possible to just take it and read it - some guidance would definitely…
on “Nick Sand, Orange Sunshine LSD chemist, has died” ↗…https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/great-minds-of-the-western-intellectual-tradition-3rd-edition.html 7. Original Sources! Especially: A. John Locke's Second Treatise of Government B. Descartes First Meditation (this will blow your mind) C. Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason D. Kant's Metaphysics of Morals E. If you are into politics and/or economics (if you really try to understand these books, you may come away having no idea what your political leanings are):…
on “Ask HN: What has been your most rewarding job or project and why?” ↗Immanuel Kant's critique of pure reason
on “Ask HN: What's one book that changed your life?” ↗…Rousseau's ideas, at least in part, were influential in causing the foment that led up to it. It changed governance for the better and today we're its beneficiaries (at least so in democracies). 16. Critique of Pure Reason—Emmanuel Kant I'm hesitant to mention Kant because he can be so obscure. The trouble is that he's so influential. Kant deals with knowledge, reason, human reasoning, and empirical reason. One cannot ignore…
on “Philosophy of Science: Suggested Core Readings and Background Texts [pdf]” ↗My favorites from college are: early dialogues of Plato (the most Socratic / least Platonic -- The Apology is a good start), Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason (on how deeply the very ideas about how we perceive things affect our understanding), and Aristotle's Nico. Ethics (the importance of habits, moderation, and the idea of the good).
on “Ask HN: Best Philosophical Books?” ↗…Logical Positivism has been dead for over sixty years for good reason. It can't satisfy its own demands. 4) You believe plenty of things without your brand of "proof". I suggest you read Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason among other things. 5) The Bible does not condemn knowledge. It teaches that true knowledge is rejected by people because they find it distasteful and aborent, not because of a lack of veracity or evidence.…
It's not patronizing, it's honest. Read the book, and you'll agree with me. (And it's hardly the only book that gets this credit - something like Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason", or Robert Anton Wilson's Illuminatus! trilogy, or any number of other books will fundamentally change how you think.)
on “Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid” ↗…more educated on it than any reply here can. I'd start with Rousseau's 'The Social Contract,' Locke's second treatise on government, Hobbes' 'Leviathan', John Stuart Mill's 'On Utilitarianism,' Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, and Hume's Political Discourses.
on “Philae has landed” ↗