Part 2 / Book 2 — CHAPTER IV THE HISTORY OF PURE REASON[1755]

CHAPTER IV THE HISTORY OF PURE REASON[1755]

This title, as Kant states, is inserted only to mark the place of the present chapter in a complete system of pure reason. The very cursory outline, which alone Kant here attempts to give, merely repeats the main historical distinctions of which the Critique has made use. The contrast between the sensationalism of Epicurus and the intellectualism of Plato has been developed in A 465 ff. = B 493 ff.[1756] The contrast between Locke and Leibniz is dwelt upon in A 43 ff. = B 60 ff. and A 270 ff. = B 326 ff. Under the title ‘naturalist of pure Reason’ Kant is referring to the ‘common sense’ school, which is typically represented by Beattie.[1757] In his Logic[1758] Kant gives a fuller account of his interpretation of the history of philosophy.