Kant: A Complete Guide to Reason

00:00 – Immanuel Kant
02:53 – Kant & The Enlightenment
08:00 – Empiricism & The Chaos of the World
15:05 – The Critique of Pure Reason
21:16 – Time & Space (transcendental aesthetic)
27:47 – Ordering the World (the metaphysical deduction)
39:50 – The Transcendental (deduction)
53:57 – Metaphysics of Morals
59:47 – The Categorical Imperative

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Description:

A look at the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, exploring why his ideas matter, and the context they arose from. It looks at the Critique of Pure Reason and the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of morals, explaining concepts like transcendental idealism and the Categorical Imperative. Born in 1724, he wanted to make us a truly scientific species – he wanted to bring together reason – how we think - and experience – what we see, hear, touch through our senses - on a sure foundation – one that scientific knowledge could be built on.

Sources:

[DCI-Frank-Burnside]

Surprisingly popular in Essex. One only has to walk down any high street in the great county to hear "Kant" this and "Kant" that.

[LarsPallesen]

It's amazing what quality content one can find on YouTube these days. This is right up there with a high budget BBC documentary. Very impressive stuff! Thank you very much for your work!

[TheGemsbok]

This is a very high-quality video, and it does a great job in particular with introducing some of the finer points of Kant's theory of mind. But its emphasis on 'pure reason' as the summit of Kant's thought is fairly misleading. Kant's work was a rejection of the dogma of the rationalists no less than it was a rejection of the skepticism of the empiricists. His Critique of Pure Reason has that title because it's intended as a study of the structures, abilities, and _limitations_ of pure reason.

Don't forget: the portion of the Critique entitled "The Transcendental Dialectic" is almost exclusively dedicated to the tendency of pure reason to come up with completely groundless and unfalsifiable ideas. And similarly, with regards to the field of metaphysics, Kant lays out his project as follows toward the end of his Prolegomena: "what is wanted is the possibility of this science, the sources from which certainty therein can be derived, and certain criteria by which it may distinguish the dialectical illusion of pure reason from truth." Kant's point there is that 'pure reason, ' without constant pertinence to experience, can easily lead a thinker into confidence about unknowable matters. So pure reason can easily become a dialectical illusion, distinct from truth.

When Waller reaches the mountaintop in this video and follows up his explosive praise of 'the summit of pure reason' with, "But remember: Kant says that experience is required too, " it's a genuinely incredible understatement. One of Kant's main points is that all we can know about is either actual experience in life, possible experience in life, or the conditions for the possibility of experience. Now, Kant _does_ think that's enough to refute Hume's most pervasive skepticism, but it obviously still places experience at the center of his system. Not reason. As Kant writes in the Prolegomena:

"The dictum of all genuine idealists, from the Eleatic school to Bishop Berkeley, is contained in this formula: 'All cognition through the senses and experience is nothing but sheer illusion, and only in the ideas of the pure understanding and reason is there truth.'
The principle that throughout dominates and determines my idealism is, on the contrary: 'All cognition of things merely from pure understanding or pure reason is nothing but sheer illusion, and only in experience is there truth.'"

So, one might prefer to say Kant was trying to bring us to the summit of our experience of the world, rather than the summit of pure reason. The firm basis on which Kant wants to rebuild metaphysics is not reason alone, but all of cognition (including sensibility, understanding, _and_ reason). What is needed, in Kant's view, is an awareness of transcendental idealism---his doctrine that (1) all objects we encounter in the world must necessarily conform to our cognition; (2) the cognition in question is composed of our sensibility, our understanding, and our reason; and (3) we have no access whatsoever to the world as it is in itself, apart from our cognition of it.

I believe this mistaken emphasis surfaces in the video simply because Waller seems to conflate Kant's notion of 'synthetic a priori judgment' with Kant's notion of 'pure reason.' So when he rightly identifies that Kant's highest aim in the Critique is to establish the legitimacy of the former (and hence a way for metaphysics to become possible), he mistakenly assumes that means Kant's highest aim can be expressed as basing philosophy, or at least metaphysics, on the latter. But this misses a primary thread in the text, as Kant puts it at the start of the Appendix to the Transcendental Dialectic: "The outcome of all dialectical attempts of pure reason not only confirm [. . .] that all the inferences that would carry us out beyond the field of possible experience are deceptive and groundless, but it also simultaneously teaches us [. . .] that human reason has a natural propensity to overstep all these boundaries."

[Tristslayer]

Well damn, you're doing better edutainment and documentaries than the basic level of today's BBC. How times change. Congrats.

[epochphilosophy]

Happy to put my kermit the frog voice to use once again! Seriously though, I have no idea how you do these. An absolute ton of work. Thanks for doing this, and thanks for having me on here!

[theforumspecter]

The quality of these videos just keeps getting better and better. Thanks for doing what you do!

[hjalmarschacht]

Good lord! What an OUTSTANDING, and AMAZING job you've done with this video. I've been studying Kant for a few years, and have never come across a better introduction to Kant than this. Truly SPECTACULAR! So beautifully done that I had tears in my eyes. Thank you ... and I just joined.

[Buzzoit]

I know this video doesn’t have much popularity as your Spinoza video, but you must know this is another master piece video and I found that I think Kants philosophy quite intriguing all in itself. Very good video! Thanks you for taking the time and energy for your brilliant videos and making them into understandable concepts

[cyberjay]

I just want to say I thought you did an absolutely amazing job with this one and it couldn't have come at a better time, I just so happen to be writing a report on Kant in my philosophy class this week and you just happen to drop this video at the same time. I've watched it like 4 times trying to absorb everything but apart from that it simply has this beauty that makes the rewatch ability very high. Thank you again!

[thomasb.]

T&N is the best philosophy series ever. My fav is Our Consumer Society.
But this video is a leap forward in production and content.
Thank you!

[StephenDix]

I spent about 2 weeks watching the Spinoza video over and over again and I can tell you that understanding came in thin layers, a little bit each time and was only after those two weeks that I felt comfortable with Spinoza at any level.

I very much appreciate these deep, slow, meditative dives into the concept. Just the first few views feel more like echoes of my own intuitions and experiences. Well done.

[sachin]

you have no idea, how much i am blessed to see this. i have been following you since my graduation days. i have gotten a lot from your videos and your videos are part of the influences on me to give me courage to pick philosophy as a hobby! right now i am not earning but will surely pay a little contribution from my side to you.
keep dont let this channel down. keep it unique
thanks lot of love

[michaelpatton]

Wow! Your guide captured so much in an hour. I am now a member and hooked. Thank you! The notes taken, stopping-starting, rewinding, looking up your references has helped me understand what Hegel is reacting to in The Phenomenology of Spirit. I have a greater appreciation for Kant and his influence on the World.

[adamjantunen]

We really enjoyed this documentary, which has greatly improved our understanding of Kant. I am part of a book club discussing John Vervaeke’d Awakening from the Meaning Crisis series, and we wanted to learn more about Kant (who Vervaeke touched on) and chose your documentary.

[Noetica]

You are absolutely amazing. Understanding, writing, explaining, editing. Most of all, making people love philosophy. You are an inspiration.

[andersonpenrose]

Truly stunning. Thank you so much. You give us Kant beautiful and clearly. Fascinating, exciting. You're a brilliant teacher!

[Arsalan-Pervez]

I love this channel and the way you put things into perspective. Really grateful for the existence of this channel! Love from Pakistan

[dwightlubiniecki]

Sir: you have taken grand steps on your way to the mountain top with this video on Kant's reason. I have listened (watched it repeatedly). With each exposure my understanding and appreciation of Kant has increased noticably. My sincere thanks for all of your efforts.

[rashidabanu]

A real treat to a restless mind. I thank my time and space for having come across this brilliant piece. Puts the mind at ease . I am going to follow you for more wisdom. Thanking you is Rashida from Chennai, India

[taylorlathem]

The quality of this video is absolutely incredible. Better than the vast majority of major tv documentaries I have seen