Immanuel Kant: “Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics”

Bob Strauss and Norm Klein

In-person and Zoom

3:30 – 5:00 p.m.

11/6, 11/13, 11/20, 12/4, 12/11, 12/18

NO CLASS 11/27

In this study group we will read and discuss Immanuel Kant’s “Prolegomena to any Future Metaphysics,” published in 1783. A prolegomena is an introduction to an extended essay or treatise. In this case, the book is meant to explain the key concepts in Kant’s “Critique of Pure Reason” (1781), one of the most significant philosophical works of all time. It is almost impossible to overstate the importance of Kant’s many contributions to the history of philosophy. Kant (1724-1804) was a leading Enlightenment scholar who is credited with changing the course of philosophical thought that had been dominated by Empiricism and Rationalism. His major works cover metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, theology and political theory. In his “Prolegomena,” Kant attempts to provide a detailed, but clear, explanation for how the human mind takes the huge array of impressions continuously received by our senses and organizes them into comprehensible, recognizable objects of experience. Our plan is to read and discuss the book after providing an overview of the context in which Kant’s views were developed. This will involve a brief explanation of Empiricist and Rationalist schools of thought, especially the empiricism of David Hume. Kant famously stated that it was Hume who awakened him [Kant] from his dogmatic slumber. We will do our best to clarify Kant’s terminology, which can be challenging for even experienced students of philosophy.

Reading Materials:  Immanuel Kant’s “Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics.” The book is available through Amazon or it can be accessed online for free at: Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics (archive.org).

Facilitators: Bob Strauss is ABD in philosophy; Norm Klein studied philosophy in rabbinic school. Both have led numerous study groups together in philosophy at OLLI.