KANT

BY

WILLIAM WALLACE, M.A., LL.D.

FELLOW AND TUTOR OF MERTON COLLEGE,

OXFORD

WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS

EDINBURGH AND LONDON

MDCCCLXXXII

PREFACE.

A FEW words stand here by way of explanation and
acknowledgment.

The biography (in which the quotation of authorities
or reference to them would have necessitated a doubling
of the allotted space) is founded on Schubert's life of
Kant, and on the early memoirs, which have been
largely corrected and added to in accordance with more
recent information. Special mention on this head is
due to Professor Benno Erdmann's essays on Knutzen
and the Kritik;' to Dr Emil Arnoldt's sketch of
Kant's early life; and to several articles in different
numbers of the Altpreussische Monatsschrift.' For
the communication of the last I am indebted to the
kindness of Dr Rudolf Reicke of Königsberg, whose
devotion to Kant is known to all brethren of the craft,
and whose promised edition of the philosopher's corre-
spondence will enable the last thirty years of his life to
be written with more fulness than heretofore.

The account of Kant's philosophy is founded directly
on his own works. Chapter viii. gives glimpses of his
scientific theories; chapter ix. notes the more salient
points in his metaphysical views up to 1766; chapter

xi. analyses the first quarter of the 'Kritik der reinen Vernunft; chapter xii. sums up the results of the rest of that work; chapter xiii. deals with the first part of the 'Kritik der Urtheilskraft,' the second part of which is connected in chapter xiv. with the two chief ethical treatises. The Prolegomena' and the 'Metaphysische Anfangsgründe der Naturwissenschaft' are passed by; the 'Religion innerhalb der Grenzen der blossen Vernunft' is briefly alluded to in the life; and the later essays, like the lectures, are only mentioned.

There have within the last five years been published in England many works on Kant. The present little book has been partly shaped by the desire not to tread more than was inevitable on ground they had already occupied with greater plenitude. Those who wish to study Kant more profoundly will find a penetrating exposition of his central doctrine in Dr Hutchison Stirling; an eloquent and suggestive account of the first 'Kritik' in Professor Caird; a well-reasoned résumé of the theoretical and moral philosophy in Professor Adamson; and an able and elaborate review of current English opinion on Kant in Professor Watson. And these are only the works of larger dimensions on this topic. Those who may wish to read Kant in translations may be safely referred (in addition to older versions by Semple, Heywood, and Meiklejohn) to Professor Mahaffy's translation of the 'Prolegomena,' &c. ; to Professor Abbott's rendering of the Moral treatises; and to Professor Max Müller's centenary translation of the first edition of the 'Kritik.'