• Background
• Resource Recommendations
• Table of Content for Notes
  • Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics
  • Sebastian Gardner, Kant and the Critique of Pure Reason
  • Critique of Pure Reason
  • Henry Allison, Kant’s Transcendental Idealism
  • J.M. Bernstein’s Lecture on CPR
• Resources

Background

Kant is arguably the most influential philosopher in the history of philosophy, especially in modern philosophy. <Critique of Pure Reason> is Kant’s magnum opus, one of his three critiques, the other two being <Critique of Practical Reason> and <Critique of Judgment>.

Kant’s main goal in this book is to resolve the problems posed by both rationalism and empiricism, and demonstrate that they necessarily complement each other.

Resource Recommendations

One thing to note is that many terms in the book has very specialized meaning that is different from modern usage, so we’ll need to be careful about that. It would be beneficial to first read commentaries or notes on the book to get an idea about the meanings of the terms in the book, a glossary is helpful as well. A summary of key points of the book can be found in here.

Many people recommend to first read his Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics to get a sense on what Kant is trying to do in the CPR.

For commentaries, according to this syllabus most useful advanced commentary is probably Henry Allison’s Kant’s Transcendental Idealism; the most useful mid-range commentary is Sebastian Gardner, Kant and the Critique of Pure Reason.

There is another more recent course guide¹ that has reading material recommendations.

There are also some video lectures available in Youtube that might be helpful: Dan Robinson, Anders Kraal, Robert Paul Wolff.

Anders Kraal’s lecture is really clear, highly recommended.

Table of Content for Notes

Disclaimer: The notes are for educational purposes only.

Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics

• Introduction
• How is Pure Mathematics Possible
• How is Pure Natural Science Possible
• How is Metaphysics in General Possible
• Solution to ‘How is metaphysics as a science possible’

Sebastian Gardner, Kant and the Critique of Pure Reason

• The Problem of Metaphysics
• The Possibility of Objects
• How are Synthetic A priori Judgments Possible?(Introduction)
• The Sensible Conditions of Objects (The Aesthetic)
• Transcendental Idealism
• The Conceptual Conditions of Objects (The Analytic)
• Unknowable Objects (The Dialectic)
• The Meaning of Transcendental Idealism

Critique of Pure Reason

I don’t plan to take detailed note for CPR, here is a great key point summary:

• Key Points

Henry Allison, Kant’s Transcendental Idealism

• Part I: The Nature of Transcendental Idealism
  • (1). An Introduction to the Problem
  • (2). Transcendental Realism and Transcendental Idealism
  • (3). The Antinomy of Pure Reason
• Part II: Human Knowledge and its Conditions
  • (4). Discursivity and Judgment
  • (5). The Sensible Conditions of Human Knowledge
  • (6). The Intellectual Conditions of Human Knowledge
• Part III: Categories, Schemata and Experience
  • (7). Objective Validity and Objective Reality: The Transcendental Deduction of Categories
  • (8). The Transcendental Schematism
  • (9). The First Analogy
  • (10). The Second Analogy
• Part IV: The Phenomenal, The Noumenal and The Self
  • (11). The Thing in Itself and the Problem of Affection
  • (12). Inner Sense, Self Knowledge and the Phenomenal Self
  • (13). Apperception, Rational Psychology and the Noumenal Self
  • (14). The Refutation of Idealism
  • (15). Between Cosmology and Autonomy: Kant’s Theory of Freedom in the Critique of Pure Reason

J.M. Bernstein’s Lecture on CPR

syllabus, audio recording

Resources

• Wiki
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Immanuel Kant
• My Previous Lecture Notes on Kant