Can and Kant. the Critique of Pure Reason, By

The Globe and Mail, Saturday, May 10, 2008 ᔤ D13 ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 50 GREATEST BOOKS 8 THE CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON, BY IMMANUEL KANT 8 SUSAN NEIMAN MAKES THE CASE CONGRATULATIONS TO Carol Bruneau Can Quotable GLASS VOICES Nothing, indeed, can be more and Kant harmful or more unworthy of a finalist for the the philosopher, than the vulgar appeal to so-called experience. ant was a terrible writer. Such experience would never Dartmouth Book Award He was honest enough to have existed at all, if at the prop- Kadmit it, and gracious er time, those institutions had enough to publish his longing been established in accordance for the elegance and clarity of with ideas. … This perfect state style with which two of his may never, indeed, come into contemporaries – David being; nonetheless, this does Hume and Moses Mendels- not affect the rightfulness of the sohn – were born. Kant knew idea, which in order to bring the The Critique of Pure Reason legal organization of humankind was a problem, and his later ever nearer to its greatest possi- attempts to revise or summa- ble perfection advances this rize it only made things worse. maximum as an archetype. For Still, the book is the single what the highest degree may be greatest work of modern phi- at which humankind may have losophy, and has but one rival ANTHONY JENKINS/THE GLOBE AND MAIL come to a stand, and how great – Plato’s Republic – in the his- a gulf may still have to be left tory of thought. It’s not only pear. But while he’s the only by whether they conform to between the idea and its realiza- “This novel is so rich in detail and emotion that a first general readers who are put philosopher who insisted that reality; reality is judged by tion, are questions which no one reading merely opens the reader to an appreciation of off by its clumsy, sluggish reason and reality are utterly whether it lives up to experi- can, or ought to, answer. For the its gifts. Its density submerges the reader in a complete writing; most university different, he’s also the only ence. If enough of us work to issue depends on freedom, and courses spend so much time one who gave both equal make it do so, it will. it is in the power of freedom to world of character, plot and setting … Glass Voices on the first half that they stop time. He thought this is what It’s not hard to recall how pass beyond any and every limit. illustrates the immense strength some people have to before reaching what Kant it means to be grown-up – a many bits of reality have 66 From Critique of Pure Reason said was the point. stance that is tense, some- changed in my lifetime. Forget cope with tragedy — and that is truly inspiring.” So I’ve taken a quote that times tragic, and thoroughly about the Internet; I grew up — The Globe and Mail many readers never get to, but modern. Much easier to be- in a world where black and it shows the Critique at its lieve whatever your govern- white children couldn’t swim E-VOX POPULI heart. The book seeks to de- ment tells you, like young in the same lakes, and girls 8 FROM SCOTIABANK GILLER termine what it means to be children believe their parents. planned to be secretaries or OUR READERS WRITE real. Unlike many contempor- Or – the postmodern solution housewives. Even in the most Kendall Defoe from Montreal PRIZE WINNER ary philosophers, Kant wasn’t – to conclude, like adoles- hopeful moments of the writes: Has anyone given a interested in skeptical puz- cents, that because some 1960s, the idea that the world thought to the dictionary? It zles. For him, what is real and claims to moral and political could be riveted on the cur- may be one of those choices Elizabeth Hay what is not was a matter of authority turn out to be false rent U.S. presidential election that is so obvious that it is over- great moral and political im- or specious, they never have would have been dismissed as looked, but it is hard to imagine port. The Enlightenment con- substance at all. utterly utopian. Despite some the literature of the last 300 THE ONLY SNOW tested the reality of super- Maturity, for Kant, is not re- ugly moments, what we’re years without it. Writers need it; stitions: Though witches were signation, the stance usually now watching is a triumph of students need it; politicians and IN HAVANA no longer burned in the 18th intended when someone is idealism. It wasn’t Barack pundits who think they know century, you could still be sent told to be realistic. It isn’t Obama, but Immanuel Kant, better need it. And it is an inter- to jail for denying the reality childish to work for a world in who first insisted on the au- esting choice in that it is a book of demons in free-thinking which ideals of perfect justice dacity of hope. that was not written, it was Holland. Other superstitions would be realized (though it Will slogging your way compiled, first and famously by were less dramatic but more would be childish to swallow through the Critique give you Samuel Johnson. Then there was dangerous: As long as people the claim that we’re already a foolproof way of deciding the Oxford English Dictionary, believed that poverty and ill- there). Nothing you do in what’s real? Kant doesn’t give taking more than a century to ness were God’s punishment your lifetime will take you all recipes; the principle of En- put together and relying on the for one sin or another, they the way to the ideal; but if you lightenment is to think for input of scholars and at least were unlikely to explore ways confine your efforts to cynical yourself. Work your way one madman. Today, we all ben- of eliminating them. headshaking, you will never through this book (a good efit from the labour and talent of Conservative authorities, on get anywhere at all. guide is helpful) and you’ll be endless minds engaged in cre- the other hand, scornfully de- As long as your ideas of better equipped to do so, for ating the other Good Book. This nied principles the Enlighten- what is possible are limited by you will have learned to hone deserves some space on your ment held dear. Give up your ideas of what is actual, and sharpen your own judg- list and in the conversation. feudal tradition for abstract no other idea has a chance. ment. Judgment, says the Cri- 66 Posted May 3, 2008, at 2:24 “The writing is a constant joy, alive with simple images ideals of universal justice? All We’ve all heard the claim that tique, is just what fools don’t p.m. ET ... a clarity of expression that is like clean air ... men created equal? Surely this or that reform would be have, whether they are schol- anyone with a bit of real-life very nice in theory, but the ars or saddle-makers. But The book floats in the mind after it is read ...” experience could see that hard data on human nature though anyone can fail to — Canadian Book Review Annual such a claim is not only not show it won’t work in prac- think for herself, anyone can self-evident, it isn’t even true. tice. Kant found the claim learn it. There’s no better Such examples show why it stale in the 18th century, for place than Kant to begin. was important for the Critique he turned those empiricist 66 Susan Neiman is director of the GREAT BOOKS FROM CORMORANT to distinguish what is true claims upside down. Of Einstein Forum in Germany, and On the website from what ought to be true. course, ideas of reason con- author of Moral Clarity: A Guide Kant thought the gap between flict with the claims of experi- for Grown-up Idealists. Readers can join the debate on what reality is and what it ence. That’s how ideas work. Next week: Pride and Pre- the 50 Greatest Books at should be will never disap- Ideals are not to be measured judice. www.globeandmail.com/arts..

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