ABSTRACT
It is in the Analytic that Kant gives a transcendental deduction of the categories' necessity for possible experience. A non-transcendental deduction establishes not the "lawfulness" with which we possess a concept, but "the fact from which the possession has arisen". Such a deduction accordingly provides an answer to the question quid facti. Critical skepticism, confident in reason's deductive ability, steers between dogmatic trust and skeptical mistrust in people's cognitive faculty. It is a response to a crisis that people notice when contrary metaphysical theses appeal to the same principles. On the path to self-knowledge, people begin in the "childhood" of dogmatism, deferring to the facta or deeds of reason on the basis of blind faith in the categories. Growing past this phase requires scrutinizing the categories' illegitimate use. Grasping skepticism's developmental potential accordingly demands a balance of humility and hope.
