A Commentary to Kant's Critique of Pure Reason (Classic Reprint)

A Commentary to Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason explains the ideas and methods behind Kant’s great work in clear, accessible language.

This edition surveys how Kant rethinks knowledge, space and time, and the limits of human understanding, helping readers grasp the core arguments without getting lost in specialized jargon.

Drawing on the author’s detailed analysis, the commentary situates Kant’s critical method within the broader history of philosophy. It traces how Kant links experience, sensation, and the categories of thought, and how his ideas challenge older deductive systems. The text emphasizes the practical and theoretical stakes of Kant’s project, offering guidance for readers encountering complex concepts such as apperception, perception, and the distinction between appearance and thing-in-itself.

• Clear explanations of key terms like sensibility, understanding, and the categories.
• Plain discussions of the transcendental structures that shape experience.
• Guidance on how Kant treats skepticism, idealism, and the relation between mind and world.
• Context for how Kant’s critique reshapes discussions of knowledge, reality, and reason.

Ideal for students and general readers seeking a solid, readable map of Kant’s Critique and its enduring significance.

NORMAN KEMP SMITH was born in Dundee in 1872 and died in Edinburgh in 1958. Between 1919 and 1945 he was Professor of Logic and Metaphysics at the University of Edinburgh. Among his books are New Studies in the Philosophy of Descartes, The Credibility of Divine Existence and his translation of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason.

SEBASTIAN GARDNER is lecturer in Philosophy at UCL. He is the Reviews Editor of the European Journal of Philosophy and the author of Fichte, Schelling and Early German Idealism, Kant and the 'Critique of Pure Reason' and Irrationality and the Philosophy of Psychoanalysis.