A Commentary to Kant's Critique of Pure Reason

by Norman Kemp Smith

Of all major philosophical works, The Critique of Pure Reason is one of the most rewarding, yet one of the most difficult. Norman Kemp Smith's Commentary elucidates not only textural questions & minor issues, but also the central problems which arise, he contends, from the conflicting tendencies of Kant's own thinking. This Commentary by Kant's foremost translator into English continues to be in demand with Kant scholars.
Preface to the 1st Edition
Preface to the 2nd Edition
INTRODUCTION
I TEXTUAL PAGE
Kant's Method of composing the Critique of Pure Reason
II HISTORICAL
Kant's Relation to Hume & to Leibniz
III GENERAL
1 The Nature of the a priori
2 Kant's Contribution to the Science of Logic
3 The Nature of Consciousness
4 Phenomenalism, Kant's Substitute for Subjectivism
5 The Distinction between Human & Animal Intelligence
6 The Nature & Conditions of Self-Consciousness
7 Kant's 3fold Distinction between Sensibility, Understanding & Reason
8 The place of the Critique of Pure Reason in Kant's Philosophical System
THE CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON
Title
Motto
Dedication to Freiherr von Zedlitz
PREFACE TO THE 1ST EDITION
Comment on Preface
Dogmatism, Scepticism, Criticism
PREFACE TO THE 2ND EDITION
The Copernican Hypothesis
INTRODUCTION
Comment upon the Argument of Kant's Introduction
How are Synthetic a priori Judgments possible?
The Analytic & Synthetic Methods
Purpose & Scope of the Critique
Kant's Relation to Hume
Meaning of the term Transcendental
THE TRANSCENDENTAL DOCTRINE OF ELEMENTS
Pt I THE TRANSCENDENTAL AESTHETIC
Definition of Terms
Kant's conflicting Views of Space
Section 1 SPACE
Kant's Attitude to the Problems of Modern Geometry
Section 2 TIME
Kant's Views regarding the Nature of Arithmetical Science
Kant's conflicting Views of Time
General Observations on the Transcendental Aesthetic
The Distinction between Appearance & Illusion
Kant's Relation to Berkeley
The Paradox of Incongruous Counterparts
Pt II THE TRANSCENDENTAL LOGIC
Introduction
I Logic in General
II Transcendental Logic
III The Division of General Logic into Analytic & Dialectic
Division I THE TRANSCENDENTAL ANALYTIC
Bk I THE ANALYTIC OF CONCEPTS
Ch I THE CLUE TO THE DISCOVERY OF ALL PURE CONCEPTS OF THE UNDERSTANDING
Section 1 The Logical Use of the Understanding
Comment on Kant's Argument
Stages in the Development of Kant's Metaphysical Deduction
Section 2 The Logical Function of the Understanding in Judgment
Section 3 The Categories on Pure Concepts of the Understanding
Distinction between Logical Forms & Categories
Pt II THE TRANSCENDENTAL LOGIC
Ch II DEDUCTION OF THE PURE CONCEPTS OF THE UNDERSTANDING
Analysis of the Text: the 4 Stages in the Development of Kant's Views
I Enumeration of the 4 Stages
II Detailed Analysis of the 4 Stages
Kant's Doctrine of the Transcendental Object
III Evidence yielded by the Reflexionen & Lose Blätter in Support of the Analysis of the Text
IV Connected Statement & Discussion of Kant's Subjective & Objective Deductions in the 1st Edition
Distinction between the Subjective & the Objective Deductions
The Subjective Deduction in its initial empirical Stages
Objective Deduction as given in the 1st Edition
The later Stages of the Subjective Deduction
The Distinction between Phenomenalism & Subjectivism
Transcendental Deduction of the Categories in the 2nd Edition
The Doctrine of Inner Sense
Kant's Refutations of Idealism
Inner Sense & Apperception
Bk II THE ANALYTIC OF PRINCIPLES
Ch I THE SCHEMATISM OF PURE CONCEPTS OF THE UNDERSTANDING
Ch II SYSTEM OF ALL PRINCIPLES OF PURE UNDERSTANDING
1 The Axioms of Intuition
2 The Anticipations of Perception
3 The Analogies of Experience
A 1st Analogy
B 2nd Analogy
Schopenhauer's Criticism of Kant's Argument
Kant's Subjectivist & Phenomenalist Views of the Causal Relation
Reply to Further Criticisms of Kant's Argument
Pt II THE TRANSCENDENTAL LOGIC
C 3rd Analogy
Schopenhauer's Criticism of Kant's Argument
4 The Postulates of Empirical Thought in General
Ch III ON THE GROUND OF THE DISTINCTION OF ALL OBJECTS WHATEVER INTO PHENOMENA & NOUMENA
Relevant Passages in the Section on Amphiboly
Alterations in the 2nd Edition
Comment on Kant's Argument
Appendix. The Amphiboly of the Concepts of Reflection
Division II THE TRANSCENDENTAL DIALECTIC
Introductory Comment upon the composite Origin & conflicting Tendencies of the Dialectic
The History & Development of Kant's Views in regard to the Problems of the Dialectic
Introduction
I Transcendental Illusion
II Pure Reason as the Seat of Transcendental Illusion
Bk I THE CONCEPTS OF PURE REASON
Section 1 Ideas in General
Section 2 The Transcendental Ideas
Section 3 System of the Transcendental Ideas
Bk II THE DIALECTICAL INFERENCES OF PURE REASON
Ch I THE PARALOGISMS OF PURE REASON
1st Paralogism: of Substantiality
2nd Paralogism: of Simplicity
3rd Paralogism: of Personality
4th Paralogism: of Ideality
2nd Edition Statement of the Paralogisms
Is the Notion of the Self a necessary Idea of Reason?
Ch II THE ANTINOMY OF PURE REASON
Section 1 System of the Cosmological Ideas
Section 2 Antithetic of Pure Reason
Comment on Kant's Method of Argument
1st Antinomy
2nd Antinomy
3rd Antinomy
4th Antinomy
Pt II THE TRANSCENDENTAL LOGIC
Section 3 The Interest of Reason in this Self-Conflict
Section 4 Of the Transcendental Problems of Pure Reason in so far as they absolutely must be capable of Solution
Section 5 Sceptical Representation of the Cosmological Questions
Section 6 Transcendental Idealism as the Key to the Solution of the Cosmological Dialectic
Section 7 Critical Decision of the Cosmological Conflict of Reason with itself
Section 8 The Regulative Principle of Pure Reason in regard to the Cosmological Ideas
Section 9 The Empirical Employment of the Regulative Principles of Reason in regard to all Cosmological Ideas
Solution of the 1st & 2nd Antinomies
Remarks on the Distinction between the Mathematical-Transcendental & the Dynamical-Transcendental Ideas
Comment on Kant's Method of Argument
Solution of the 3rd Antinomy
Possibility of harmonising Causality thru Freedom with the Universal Law of Natural Necessity
Explanation of the Relation of Freedom to Necessity of Nature
Comment on Kant's Method of Argument
Solution of the 4th Antinomy
Concluding Note on the whole Antinomy of Pure Reason
Concluding Comment on Kant's Doctrine of the Antinomies
Ch III THE IDEAL OF PURE REASON
Sections 1-2 The Transcendental Ideal
Comment on Kant's Method of Argument
Section 3 The Speculative Arguments in Proof of the Existence of a Supreme Being
Section 4 The Impossibility of an Ontological Proof
Comment on Kant's Method of Argument
Section 5 The Impossibility of a Cosmological Proof of the Existence of God
Comment on Kant's Method of Argument
Discovery & Explanation of the Transcendental Illusion in all Transcendental Proof of the Existence of a necessary Being
Comment on Kant's Method of Argument
Section 6 The Impossibility of the Physico-Theological Proof
Section 7 Criticism of all Theology based on speculative Principles of Reason
Concluding Comment
APPENDIX TO THE TRANSCENDENTAL DIALECTIC
The Regulative Employment of the Ideas of Pure Reason
Hypotheses not permissible in Philosophy
On the Final Purpose of the Natural Dialectic of Human Reason
Concluding Comment on the Dialectic
APPENDIX A
THE TRANSCENDENTAL DOCTRINE OF METHODS
Ch I THE DISCIPLINE OF PURE REASON
Section 1 The Discipline of Pure Reason in its Dogmatic Employment
Section 2 The Discipline of Pure Reason in its Polemical Employment
Section 3 The Discipline of Pure Reason in regard to Hypotheses
Section 4 The Discipline of Pure Reason in regard to its Proofs
Ch II THE CANON OF PURE REASON
Section 1 The Ultimate End of the Pure Use of our Reason
Section 2 The Ideal of the Highest Good as a Determining Ground of the Ultimate End of Pure Reason
Section 3 Opining, Knowing & Believing
Ch III THE ARCHITECTONIC OF PURE REASON
Ch IV THE HISTORY OF PURE REASON
Appendix B
Appendix C
Index

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

651 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1918

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kant is the most pellucid philosopher I have ever read, the only one who not only attempted to construct a comprehensive explanation of everything (Hegel did that as well, certainly), but managed to do so without relying on undefined or fuzzy concepts. Every operant concept employed by Kant is well and clearly defined--partly a consequence of his intellectual rigor, partly of the fact that he virtually had to invent a philosophical German as he went along. Because of this and because of the importance of the Germans in the intellectual history of the West, Kant basically set the agenda for subsequent work. He is one of the narrow points through which the currents of philosophy pass.

One cannot read Kant's major works cold. By "major" I mean primarily the Critique of Reason (epistemological groundwork), the Critique of Practical Reason (ethics) and the Critique of Judgment--the "three Critiques" which elaborate his system. One must know the British empiricists, particularly Hume; Leibnitz (The philosopher in his own academic circle); Aristotle; Rousseau and Newton to understand the intellectual world in which he dwelt.

Having finished college and being well along in seminary, I had a pretty thorough background in history and in the western philosophical tradition. I was planning a thesis on the philosophical bases of the thought of C. G. Jung and realized that the core of that study would have to be Kant, Jung having thought of his own work as an application of Kant's transcendental method to psychology. To that point, however, I only knew Kant from his Prolegoumena (which I understood, basically) and Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone (which I thought I understood but looked at differently later). More, much more, was necessary. I had to read at least everything Jung had read and should read a lot more if I were to be able to criticize him.

The translation of the First Critique I picked up was the old Saint Martin's Press paperback, translated by N. K. Smith. It was hard going. Resolved not to proceed without comprehending everything, I was sometimes spending an hour on a single page of the text. Then I stumbled upon Smith's Commentary--a book even longer than the one it commented on. Although an expensive hardcover, it was vital, particularly as I had little German. Single pages still took up to an hour, but now I had Smith to help me through it chapter by chapter, page by page, paragraph by paragraph, sentence by sentence, word by word. . . . and by the time I'd finished the third Critique, it all seemed clear as day.

Thank you, Norman Kemp Smith.

[Warren Fournier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes we don't give ourselves enough credit. When I was reading Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason" earlier this year, I encountered multiple instances where I felt he was contradicting himself or his use of vocabulary was changing so that my understanding of his meaning was off. I made the assumption that I was just not bright enough or educated enough to fully grasp the genius of this seminal work so often cited as one of the most important books in philosophy. I allowed the reputation of the book to intimidate me into not using my own critical faculties to the best of my ability.

But Norman Kemp Smith's Commentary made me feel a little better. Here, he meticulously evaluates almost every line for inconsistencies, and it turns out that I was right in many ways. Kant was making up a whole new system, and inventing nomenclature as he went along, and sometimes you can see the development of his own thought as he changes what his assumptions are behind the meaning of his words. For example, he was the first to give "transcendental" and "transcendent" different meanings, even though in the writings of medieval philosophers these words were used interchangeably.

The translator didn't help matters either. It turns out that when you switch the position of words from the German original into an English sentence, the whole meaning of the phrase changes. What a reader of English may see is not what Kant intended to mean.

Therefore, Kemp Smith makes it clear just how unclear Kant's book can be. It is a difficult work not just because of it's new intellectual ground and content, but because Kant and his translators sometimes were careless.

However, the author is not here to simply bash Kant's book. His diligent analysis helps the reader of Kant to trace the history and unfolding of his thinking, to understand where to take Kant at face value and where to recognize a contradiction that will be corrected later. His overall advice? When Kant says something in one part of the book, just go with it. He means what he says at the time. When you start to feel confused because it seems he is using terminology differently or contradicting himself, make a note of it and move on. Don't sit there and reread the same sentence over and over thinking you've missed something. It will all come out in the end.

Kemp Smith's Commentary really should be read alongside the Critique if you want a really good understanding from your study of Kant's work. It is a true companion piece. The end result is almost twice as long as Kant's original volume, and perhaps one would think that you could simply forgo the Critique altogether and just read the Kemp analysis. But you will quickly see that this is impossible, as the Commentary is not presented as a cohesive standalone narrative, but rather a series of references to various definitions, paragraphs, and sections of the Critique, almost like a separate volume of footnotes.

So for students of philosophy, I definitely recommend reading the Commentary simultaneously with the Critique. It will certainly prolong the time and effort into your reading, but it will ultimately save you from being left with an inaccurate or incomplete understanding of the Critique if you go through the heartache of reading it solo. You'll get more value for your study.

Don't get me wrong, this book will not simplify Kant in any way for you. If anything, it will take you further down the rabbit hole. You can spend years on just studying the Critique and the Commentary alone. So this is not casual reading, folks. I only recommend this highly if you are willing to take the time to truly appreciate Kant as a great and revolutionary thinker, and to further your exploration of how his contributions to metaphysics have changed the discipline and the world to the present day.

[Beauregard Bottomley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been reading the The Collected Works of Immanuel Kant and this book was in that collection. I wanted to write a quick review for myself as a note to myself that I’ve read this book.

This is probably the single best commentary on Kant’s first critique. The author not only explains what Kant is getting at but he shows the development across time and how his thoughts changed and progressed over the twelve years he took to write his classic. Kant was not the most disciplined of writers and would keep sections in that would contradict other sections and so on. That only adds to the satisfaction that the reader will achieve while reading Kant.

One can read this book as prep for reading the first critique. I know for me the first time I read the first critique it was mind-numbing and I swore I would never revisit it. I’m glad I have.

Kant is not obtuse. He is such an important thinker because he broke the mode of all philosophy that came before him and knows that truth is not out there in a dogmatic sense. Anyhow, that’s for you to discover on your own and this book acts as a great introduction to a great thinker.

[Libia Fibilo · Rating 5 out of 5]

L'idea centrale di questo libro è chiarire e discutere la Critica della Ragion Pura di Kant.

Il libro non solo è scritto molto bene, ma contiene dettagli essenziali per non fraintendere la Critica, in particolare la descrizione del processo di scrittura della Critica, il suo contesto.

Un libro che non fa divulgazione, ma analisi.

È utile leggere genesi editoriale e contesto, così come li descrive il libro, PRIMA di leggere la Critica.

Il resto di questo libro va letto dopo avere letto Kant, almeno.

Meglio se si sono letti Hume (almeno il saggio, ma meglio io trattato) e Leibniz, almeno i Nuovi Saggi.

Ottimo libro, un piacere studiarlo.

Ulteriore pregio: fu scritto durante la prima guerra mondiale.

Lodevole al massimo che abbia persisto, in tempi di violenza, in questo serio lavoro di letteratura critica.

AGGIUNTA DEL 2025: Ritengo tuttora che avere letto questo libro è stata un'esperienza cognitiva appagante. Chiaro, profondo, informativo.

[Costy Costantinos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Immanuel Kant: is one of the most persuasive philosophers in philosophy. His contributions to metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics have had a profound impact on almost every philosophical advance. In theoretical perspectives, such as law or academics, critique is most inspired by Kant's use of the term to mean a reflective assessment of the authenticity and boundaries of philosophical appeals human beings. Kant's moral philosophy is defined “as the capacity of a rational being to act according to principles” (i.e., the hypothesis of laws).