Kant's Dialectic Limitations

Kant's Dialectic Limitations

"Mathematics, natural science, laws, arts, even morality, etc., do not completely fill the soul; there is always a space left over reserved for pure and speculative reason, the emptiness of which prompts us to seek in vagaries, buffooneries, and mysticism for what seems to be employment and entertainment, but what actually is mere pastime undertaken in order to deaden the troublesome voice of reason, which, in accordance with its nature, requires something that can satisfy it and does not merely sub serve other ends or the interests of our inclinations."

This statement comes from Immanuel Kant's Prolegomena of Future Metaphysics. It is a basic generalization and a concluding summary to the basic points found in the Prolegomena. It is also the basis for quandaries found by future philosophers such as Hegel and Marx. In Kant's view, dialectical reasoning is based on insufficiently